"Survival of the Fittest." Ever since Darwin formulated his theory of Natural Selection, belief in a world of brutal competition has reverberated through areas as wide-ranging as books, games, and movies to psychology and the halls of politics. Still, must we accept that nature rewards only the strongest survivors? Why should we base any of these ideas on nature at all?! Through in-depth analysis of primary sources and modern scientific papers, you'll get to decide for yourself. Along the way, we will encounter radically different ideas, both scientific and philosophical, that suggest an altogether different idea of evolution...

Why did birds develop wings? To fly? No! Learn the truth about how animals developed complex appendages and answer the big evolutionary question that stumped Charles Darwin when he published his theory of Natural Selection. We'll end our discussion by going through a modern paper that expands on this mystery, and you'll run your own experimental 'test-flight' to check that it works!