Ep5: The Genesis of Purpose - Growing Up in the Universe - Richard Dawkins

richarddawkins....
Oxford professor Richard Dawkins presents a series of lectures on life, the universe, and our place in it. With brilliance and clarity, Dawkins unravels an educational gem that will mesmerize young and old alike. Illuminating demonstrations, wildlife, virtual reality, and special guests (including Douglas Adams) all combine to make this collection a timeless classic.
The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures for Children were founded by Michael Faraday in 1825, with himself as the inaugural lecturer. The 1991 lecturer was Richard Dawkins whose five one-hour lectures, originally televised by the BBC, are now available free online, courtesy of The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. The entire 5-hour program is also available on a 2-DVD set through our online store. richarddawkins....
The DVD includes subtitles in English, Spanish, French and Polish.
Read the transcript:
richarddawkins....
If you enjoy these free videos, please consider purchasing the DVD and/or making a donation to The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science to help us continue our work. Donate here: richarddawkinsf...
Originally broadcast as The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures for Children, 1991.

[@higgins007]

This complete lecture series is a masterclass of science and education. Inspiring. Bravo.

[@higgins007]

And an encyclopaedia of creatard pwnmanship to boot!

[@mantabond]

We watched the whole series when we were younger. With our father always on our side. Fab days.

[@Dean90125]

It really is an incredible series.

[@uliuchu4318]

and yet understandable as on a school class level

[@UV0023]

Just done watching the 5th episode, these lectures were way ahead of their time, everybody should know about shows like this I found out about it recently at the age of 28, it would've been great If I had the chance to watch it at an early age. It's a crime not to air this show in every channel of every country. Man, Richard Dawkins is a living encyclopedia!

[@higgins007]

UV0023 Right? Why is this not compulsory viewing material for every science curriculum in every school. A true masterclass of science and education.

[@carloalbertocamamusa6466]

UV0023 I knew about Dr Dawkins in my early thirties. Till then, I had had a believer's attitude on the issue of life.

[@gregorysasmita657]

25 :(

[@Ana_crusis]

It's not a "show"

[@meetghelani5222]

Immense thanks to Richard and The Royal Institution for putting up these lectures online. I hope that someday, the people in my country could have people like you turn them away from superstition and towards science and the power it holds inside it. Much Love.

[@tammymilda2169]

One word to describe early 90s Dawkins - lovely.

[@louisehaley5105]

Tammy Milda : Yes - he’s so easy on the eyes, and the ears.

[@deltanovember1672]

What a great man he is, we are so fortunate that he chose to become a teacher.

[@adebowalemichelgranger-mcc4228]

@@deltanovember1672 Not just a teacher, a noble and key profession. More importantly Dr Dswkins is a scientist, a philosopher and a critic of teachers who teach without recourse to evidence and base their messages to pupils on prejudice, religiosity and plain ignorance.

[@B01]

plants are lovely, he's brilliant

[@gualatapes119]

Virtual Reality in 1991, amazing.

[@struby100]

Guala Tapes i

[@mikeslack9965]

I'm jealous of anyone who has been taught by this guy. What a genius. What a superb communicator.

[@aquillafleetwood8180]

mike slack...he is quite...offsome!

[@poozer1986]

@@rafayshakeel4812 what a ridiculous comment. In assuming you have proof of his hypocrisy?

[@poozer1986]

@@rafayshakeel4812 yes evolution is a fact. It happened, whether you chose to accept it, or not. Like the fact the earth, orbits the sun, or the fact ours gravity, that keeps us grounded on earth. Just because you don't understand something, doesn't make it wrong.

[@poozer1986]

@@rafayshakeel4812 literally nothing, other than mathematics, deals in truth. Science deals in available evidence, which is the next best thing. Being a Muslim, I'm not surprised you cannot see past your indoctrination, but that's not your fault. I'm not your Bro, and wouldn't be of you paid me

[@poozer1986]

@@rafayshakeel4812 FYI, anyone who calls it the theory of evolution, and understands what that means, is also saying evolution is a fact

[@riteshajoodha4401]

These videos should be part of the course work for every school.

[@koru9780]

I agree

[@tunakoseoglu650]

Absolutely!

[@eddiegamao8700]

1

[@scattered709]

@@tunakoseoglu650 Türk buldum (◕ᴗ◕✿)

[@tomormiston6592]

I'm old enough to remember when these were broadcast. They taught me so much more than any school science classes did. Simply superb !

[@JohnnyZenith]

Amazing to think how far computing had come since.

[@orgelssecondrule9221]

I love that he is giving such respect to an audience of children… It seems as much respect as he would to an audience of his colleagues for some kind of award

[@ShadowZZZ]

absolutely wonderful series. I can be thankful to live in a time where this information is publicly avaliable for almost no price.

[@hanspeter7843]

Almost? How much did u pay

[@bellarosalarsen1638]

My daughter called him Richard Dickings. She is a huge fan even though she only started learning about atheism. She is very proud to be called an atheist! We are reading the book The Magic of Reality and she almost gets it, maybe in 2 more years or so she will be able to fully get it. Still, she likes the fact that her great, great, great etc, grand-father was a fish!

[@bellarosalarsen1638]

Going to do a weekend with Richard Dawkins ;) I want my daughter to watch all of these lectures, truly amazing. Every child should watch this.

[@alessandrocernuzzi]

Absolutely. My kids will watch these too, that's for sure

[@JosephNordenbrockartistraction]

Richard Dawkins is still alive and is still hoping we all can continue going forward using our scientific method or reasoning and cumlative knowlege of various fields of scientific research despite the objections of religious fundamentalists trying to get bronze age dogma taught in schools labeled as "Intelligent Design". We must become updated and put away the old books and superstitious ideas.

[@podkowalesna]

still alive in 2021, but the battle against stupidity and obscurity seems to be lost

[@Synathidy]

@@podkowalesna Not as long as I have anything to say about it.

[@tommydawson7147]

Its a shame he isnt open to the spiritual reality, manifestation.

[@JosephNordenbrockartistraction]

@@tommydawson7147 I'd prefer that he doesn't take the same mind altering drugs you do.

[@2Dylandog]

@@JosephNordenbrockartistraction This is to adopt a fossilized no-win argument. I prefer to suggest the possibility of non-overlapping magisteria.

[@UndefinedMadrid]

His rhetoric is flawless

[@akagi893]

I'm proud to say that I've grown up in the Universe thanks to you RD

[@davidanderson9664]

41:00 I like how (in 1991) he uses an example of a cave-WOMAN coming up with the tree/bridge idea, not the default cave man. Like a lot of things, like being into computers in the 1970s, RD is way ahead of his time.

[@rachaeldunphy9574]

At 25:50, it was his 7 year-old daughter who was the only one to volunteer when none of the other children would. He said on an interview that he still gets emotional when he remembers her unquestioning loyalty and bravery in the face of that giant needle 🥰

[@danpt2000]

That VR helmet must have been high tech back those days.

[@fishoffthetelly]

Every single one of those lectures prove that astonishing concepts that were held unthinkable only a few centuries ago can easily be communicated in a way accessible to all ages and levels of intelligence in a wonderfully eloquent style. Thank you Dawkins - a first class tutor able to captivate any audience. Your continued work has my utmost respect.

[@coltraneole]

Dawkins was so adorable back then. Love Dawkins so much!

[@YashKMusic]

this entire series needs to be made mandatory in all schools, absolutely brilliant!

[@ThePerfect1077]

That powerful computer though.

[@blake6636]

Utterly fascinating. Amazing lecture, always a pleasure to listen.

[@atheistmom3591]

These lectures are absolutely beautiful and just as relevant 30 years later.

[@captainchaos3667]

One thing I like about these is that Dawkins doesn't talk down to the children. The lecture isn't dumbed down, he mostly just talks normally, spouting concepts and difficult words at quite a pace now and again, keeping his audience on their toes all the time. Quite a difference to the Christmas Lecture of this year (or rather last year). They were nice, but this is much more effective I think, and more respectful of childrens' ability to follow complex discussions.

[@martinplasse174]

No backwards baseball caps and ninja turtles are still going strong Richard! ;)

[@louisehaley5105]

He looks really cute in one !

[@serenity748]

not anymore now its mostly curved hats put on forwards

[@ianmorris6271]

My kids love these and I love to watch them together. Such brilliance

[@Acemach]

Watching the bit about the mouse and cursor, 21 years on, really is a fresh, exciting way of looking at something we now take for granted, when back then it was nothing short of cutting edge. For me, this series never fails to do the same for the world I've had 19 years to grow apathetic to. Thank you, Pr. Dawkins!

[@tomormiston6592]

Love to see RD recreating/redoing these lectures again with modern knowledge of hominoids , dinosaurs, DNA etc, with some of the original audience and their kids perhaps ?

[@geezee769]

Wanted Prof. Dawkins to put on that VR Set so bad. Would have made for a great meme.

[@gehtdianschasau8372]

There are no great memes. They're all stupid.

[@patstaysuckafreeboss8006]

@@gehtdianschasau8372 Aren't you a bag of sunshine

[@gehtdianschasau8372]

@@patstaysuckafreeboss8006 I enjoy clever humor, like that of Dawkins, i don't enjoy repetitive stuff, like that of Steve Urkel. I hate techno "music", but that doesn't mean that i don't like music in general.

[@patstaysuckafreeboss8006]

@@gehtdianschasau8372 Cool? I don’t care

[@gehtdianschasau8372]

@@patstaysuckafreeboss8006 So that's why you took the time to answer? Makes perfectly sense. Please keep that positive attitude!

[@pyrotechnick420]

Just to clarify, Richard's advanced computer in 1991 had a hard drive disk space of 150 MB. And I'm betting that the amount of memory it had was measured in Kilobytes... EDIT: NM turns out that it came with a whole 1 MB of RAM lel

[@desmo750f1]

The Division Provision VR system has a parallel multi-processor architecture using Inmos transputers and Intel i860 processors. It cost $70,000 and would have had a lot more than 1MB of RAM. It was marketed as the first integrated VR workstation.

[@theblancmange1265]

My school library in 2012 had computers with 128mb ram. How far had technology progressed in those two decades.

[@pyrotechnick420]

@@theblancmange1265 Yea my first PC was an IBM PS/2 with 33Mhz, the highest you could get at the time lol. We had a 140MB Hard Drive and 16MB of RAM. All that cost my dad 3,000 dollars in 1987. JEEZ

[@maxrupo]

Incredible series. Mind blowing even almost 30 years later.

[@michaelcollins7738]

Superb, Professor Dawkins is brilliant and kindly.

[@menglish83]

I wish I could have experienced this 30+ years ago. Since then, through painstaking effort I have been fortunate to learn much, but not all, of the information provided through this series. I must wonder what my life might've been like having been exposed to all of this much earlier.

[@ZachValkyrie]

OMG! He's young again! thanks Dr. Dawkins; keep 'em coming!

[@JR-ee4xf]

Thanks for sharing this amazing lecture series!

[@katalinjones]

Magnificent! A tour de force, brilliantly conceived, designed and delivered. Total mind candy. Dawkins is another leap forward in brain evolution. The world -- humanity -- owes him a huge debt.

[@kaox44]

One of the greatest speaker and mind of our time.

[@mktaha1341]

One of the best lectures! Richard Dawkins such a great man

[@hypnomancer]

Richard U are a big turning point in stupidity of the sheeple . Thankyou for ur dedication and debunking myths of society ... u are a revelation ... those who scoff u now , will be the embaressment of there own genes... u are genius and those who scoff will and are being made fools of...history is being rewritten as u breathe and educate the dim ... stay strong stay true stay real ... thank you

[@RAMSEY1987]

When mri was a new thing

[@VIpown3d]

still had vr tho

[@boulehead]

This is really good for young kids. I will show this series to my kids. They should show it in schools.

[@vandammesque]

The double edged segment was very powerful.

[@stevesurv]

Great lecture for young people yet it is still thought provoking for folks who never went to college.

[@smohareb]

I have to acknowledge that he a terrific lecturer, his decent low tone of voice can influence his audience most of his speech makes sense except some parts as "simple designed telescope compared to the very complex designoid eye" but watch out he is like a magician impressing his audiences with science experiments "which are impressive" so that kids will say WOW like you did and accept whatever he is saying.

[@alessandrocernuzzi]

I pity anyone who disliked these videos. What a magnificent learning experience. Thank you Richard Dawkins and to the Royal Institute

[@getaasciesh1]

25 years and still a big deal getting a VR headset.

[@myIcustomIURLI]

..and 50 atheists were created.

[@stirling4070]

SKDJFksdjvkdcnjkzdnkjvn

[@Jordan-vr7ip]

No created, free implies they were released from the crutches of delusion, an atheist cannot be freed because they are already freed. So when you say 50 atheist were freed? Freed from what exactly? You could say 50 "creationist" were freed.

[@GaryFerrao]

These videos are way ahead of its time. In the previous episodes, giving kids a computer with a mouse pointer to operate. This episode, giving them an entire virtual reality set!~

[@Kongodiantotela]

I'm deeply angry now. I'm angry at my teachers who taught me science without enthusiasm and without actually understanding it themselves. I'm angry at my parents who dragged me to the local church every Sunday to foist on me ideas about the Virgin, the human sacrifice of Jesus and many other stupidities that sounded like knowledge but were actually fabricated stories. I'm mad at Nature for not putting around me, when I was growing up, a great mind like Richard Dawkins ! Lots of thanks to the RDFRS, from Brazzaville (Congo).

[@Ana_crusis]

Seems from most comments that people aren't aware of this yearly programme of Christmas lectures by the Royal Society. Every year they have a person well known in their field to give a series of lectures on their topic. It could but on anything. They are geared for young audiences though also for anyone of course.. There have been some great ones. I dare say they are all online somewhere

[@bliteryhong]

truly inspiring me. thank you Richard. You've changed my life for ever!

[@d60dfath3r]

"now shes going to touch the door with her arrow (with her hand)... and OPEN the door!" that part made me chuckle, a nice reminder of how far computers have gone to see how excited a proffessional scientist got over that

[@adrianriebelbrummer5792]

54:05 I'm still blown away by the quality of that computational model

[@Talvara]

Brilliant lectures, I have greatly enjoyed this set. thank you for sharing this with the world and me.

[@JUNKGEE83]

Beautiful use of reference points and metaphors.

[@danfulotikadoguga8632]

Science is king. Richard Dawkins is the great prince of science.

[@frankmurphyburr3598]

these lectures are on BBC TV every Christmas, they're called the Christmas Lectures, for young students, groundbreaking TV

[@TeddehSpaghetti]

I'm blown away at how evolved my Oculus Quest 2 VR headset is compared to the VR in this demonstration. With AI, it's about to get so much better too!

[@BIZEB]

The MRI was a pretty recent thing. It's so much fun watching these lectures that aren't so recent. We get the feeling of how different the world was just 20 years ago, and how much our technology has evolved. I wonder how these lectures would've been done nowadays.

[@nonameslb]

This is how creation works,some theists come watch this video and then BOOOOMMMM,atheists are created.

[@arch8881]

So are we not going to discuss the evolution of Richard's fashion sense?

[@pyrotechnick420]

Even in 1991 Virtual Reality wasn't a huge deal. I remember back in 1994 they had a VR boutique at my local mall and I got to play with a VR headset and gun controller, all while on a platform that was essentially a treadmill. I bet you guys would also be surprised to know when the first 3D movie came out....it was 1922

[@downwiththesyndrome]

I enjoyed this series and hope our model of the universe does increasingly reflect reality and discard superstitions.

[@gtdriver2416]

One of the greatest scientists of our time.

[@rkullberg]

That beginning animation was absolutely beautiful.

[@Mattz1995]

Richard Dawkins is my idol...... I wish I could listen to everything he had to say. =P

[@moonlover2022]

The person I admire so much

[@mikemizanin4381]

Dawkins is amazing person, genius mind. Thanks, professor!

[@misosoup5ever]

46:00 Backwards baseball caps and teenage mutant ninja turtles are some persistent mind viruses, more so than Dr. Dawkins predicted.

[@richardgates7479]

They did die off in the 90s. You're just seeing the relics of that era, like Star Trek remakes, nothing even close to what it was and no longer a threatening "virus".

[@i20010]

Life before the iphone. People seem to had patience. Fascinating.

[@historicalperspective]

46:30 I love how dawkins is trying to tell them that religion is bad without telling them religion is bad

[@henryporter101]

@dpaanlka Your comment has made me aware that Dawkins is the man who has had the most impact on my life as well.I think he'll be remembered as long as there's civilization.

[@Mr-DNA_]

That VR is pretty impressive for 1991. Crazy to think that nowadays everyone can do this with their smartphones and with much better animation.

[@orth82]

ditto :) and it makes me smile to see the cutting edge technology back in the day, not to mention the clothes & hairstyles of the future boffins in the audience! Also funny to observe that that style of shirt Dawkins is wearing has come back in style.

[@Gigano]

Wonderful lecture. Gave me some new insights into the brain, which is particularly handy since I'm currently attending Neurology seminars.

[@princekrazie]

I WONDER WHAT GOOD OLD KAREN WOULD THINK ABOUT OCULUS RIFT AND ALL THE NEW TECH SWAG.

[@Synathidy]

Is "oculus rift" a medical eye condition?

[@Iambecome]

"Genius is considered Madness until you reach that level of understanding." What an interesting, curious idea.

[@MichaelJacksonRulez]

It's from 1992. I still can't believe he's from march '41. I can't even believe,that he's a lot older then 50 when I look at him end listen to him and he's already 68!

[@mauriceachach3351]

Timeless lectures!!!!

[@jennifercuddy5663]

This was a great Christmas lecture.

[@Axlite2]

A great, great lecture on so many levels - and a fascinating early approach into implementing computers to education (way ahead of it's time mind you, since it's still too rare a thing). This should be mandatory viewing everywhere.

[@AtheerAl]

great insight into the story of our brains..

[@GoPatriots]

Very interesting lecturer! 100% clear.

[@LouigiVerona]

The thing about the eye and brain stabilization is wow!

[@BarbarosaAlexander]

@ ThincKritically I'm a teacher. I'm proud to say that I am part of a new breed that are trying our best to make the kinds of classes that we wished we'd had as children.

[@veronicats100]

It must be painful for Richard Dawkins to live in this STUPID world of today.

[@dj-kq4fz]

Like how half the population of a certain country appears to have voted for a demented puppet rather than a true outsider that actually owes nothing to the political elite? Yeah, stupidity reigns.

[@Synathidy]

@@dj-kq4fz I agree: the 2016 election was a disaster.

[@dj-kq4fz]

@@Synathidy Ha! Nice burn! Have a great weekend

[@knarfx4732]

What a series of lectures 👏🔥👏, after watching this 5 lectures I’m ready to debate evolution with anyone 😂😂

[@JimmyFox01]

Thank you for the spectacular lecture, Dr. Dawkins.

[@ionelmarele8368]

Here in 2021 ,still awesome and actual !

[@EdwinElijahD]

Dawkins supported Vr gaming before it was mainstream proof this man was ahead of time for sure

[@paz6918]

So, we as humans, give this universe purpose. Strong anthropic principle.

[@kwiz8848]

Richard Dawkins is a genius

[@davidanderson9664]

Beats "the bejesus" out of the bronze age fairy tales with sheer education and learning - it results in more awe, amazement and beauty than dumb ass burning bush myths. RD looks so YOUNG for his age, then. Thx for uploading. Why isn't he "Sir" RD yet?

[@JayeshSarvaiya]

CGI and VR back in 1991 just wow... What an absolute beautiful show.

[@KanonHara]

the triangle made my brain melt down

[@theskeletonboi]

11:38 That VR headset though.....

[@gotank]

Ah, it's very fascinating to see how far computers have progressed in the past 2 decades. Our understanding of evolution, however, remained essentially the same, only strengthened.

[@trooper600]

Dawkins you are incredible.

[@LudicSavant]

As to the issue of humans not being able to develop further because of the birth canal, consider one of Dawkin's earlier lectures, where he discussed a certain domesticated animal that could not be born except by C-Section. What stops humans from becoming similarly dependent?