The development of evolution - Many Minds
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- Title
- The development of evolution
- Description
- <p class="p1">Evolution is not what it used to be. A lot has changed since Darwin's day. In the first half of the 20th century, evolutionary theory was integrated with an emerging understanding of genetics. Late in the 20th century, biologists started taking seriously the idea that organisms don't just adapt to their environments, they change them. Recently, researchers have started to acknowledge the role of culture in evolutionary processes. And so slowly our understanding of evolution has been reconsidered, updated, expanded. And more updates are underway. But it's not just our <em>understanding</em> of evolution that has changed over time. Evolution itself has changed, too.</p> <p class="p1">My guest today is <a href= "https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/biology/people/knl1"><span class= "s1">Dr. Kevin Lala</span></a>. Kevin an evolutionary biologist at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Over his long career, Kevin has been at the forefront of key debates about—and updates to—evolutionary theory. He's known, for instance, for his pioneering work on niche construction as well as for his work on gene-culture evolution. In a new book titled <a href= "https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691262413/evolution-evolving?srsltid=AfmBOoqeRKz2Hznxz8TtCXzGYq0mgIfbPhL7NUnahSUrYhH3ogXXEWCz"> <span class="s1"><em>Evolution Evolving</em></span></a>, Kevin and his four co-authors present a new synthesis of evolution, one that places developmental processes front and center.</p> <p class="p1">Here, Kevin and I sketch the notion of a "developmental bias" and why it's central to this new understanding of evolution. We talk about the orthodox gene-centric way of thinking about development—and what it get's wrong. We discuss so-called exploratory processes in development. We dig into the increasingly popular, but<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span> much debated construct of "evolvability." And we consider what this newest update to evolution theory might tell us about the origins of human cognition. Along the way, Kevin and talk about floppy ears in mammals and fragmented faces in fish; symbionts and soft inheritance; Mary Jane West-Eberhard, Richard Lewontin, and August Weismann; development as an artist and evolution as curator; maps; plants; manual dexterity; brains size; and why evolution is a bit like walking on a trampoline.</p> <p class="p1">A final reminder about the 2025 <a href= "https://disi.org/"><span class="s1">Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute</span></a>, or DISI. DISI is a three-week long summer institute held in St Andrews, Scotland; it's a place for the wide-ranging, transdisciplinary exploration of ideas about mind, cognition, and intelligence. It's a place where early career scholars get to hobnob with thinkers like Kevin Lala, who was a faculty member with us in 2019. There's still <a href= "https://disi.org/apply/"><span class="s1">time to apply</span></a>, but do act fast—review of applications begins March 1st.</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1">Alright friends, on to my conversation w/ Dr. Kevin Lala. Enjoy!</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1">A transcript of this episode will be posted soon.</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p3"><span class="s2"><em>Notes and links</em></span></p> <p class="p3">4:00 – A <a href= "https://watermark.silverchair.com/genetics0795.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAA4owggOGBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggN3MIIDcwIBADCCA2wGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMIEXCHJWuZf_wVqkxAgEQgIIDPVclKl4kil0CzoB-6grOe641uz1nA_g1Wvlh2FslceUmo5zscM6ARs8Y3E4ByT57khGmfHOpNMgyRI7kuwFxQB1ZBqZ2qCGZ9N5QF7ITvHQLFhX_lh8_HZNL3kMI1pDC6Zx0tCXQk-nFkfLZonm3cq0c2vCtlO0El7LMPItjwBzq4BzOiztTgxeIDARR8O-kmgVJBiaV7nB0728c1L2_rR47F2KSYVRwsMzL_LYTeqVBbUpWBonWbUG8YHdVvZiIFwosAgmKOVYBNUctGv9nMI5pb2iLEjne0IxyJGRfxARjq56O-qfrZAWKX3AGPZV85OFR2gQ4AQ0Am5NgNeIVgH6mKcS59d-EcOHTdDQczvuiahaabBy7UT1YlBSxZPKGSOIfvvCmJTzUVQKMZkUi-uSoapUFtVbYl_VOu8KssR7NpIeZSasNsN3qiRBJXkz2QDFqy7IdiI0jgBNtYrywR9MLIneXJ2oCN1dIhjF4CwXKiEm2fnV8sW94zDoyaM0QtvmRFZc1urszlNlVM2gVo1-tbiEFvRVuKVlqR5AVIxki5
- Publication Date
- 2025-02-20T18:52:00+00:00
- Status
- completed
- Website
- https://manyminds.libsyn.com/the-development-of-evolution
- Length
- 96:42
- File
- /podcasts/Many Minds/1740077520-5003.mp3
- Size
- 132.82 MB
- Bitrate
- 187-CBR
- Channels
- 1
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