Denis Noble: The Evidence That Neo-Darwinism Is Dead

Denis Noble argues that neo‑Darwinism is dead and examines purpose, agency, and holism in biology, contrasting his views with Richard Dawkins and covering topics from the Gaia hypothesis to stochasticity and morphic resonance.

- 00:00 - Intro
- 00:20 - Neo-Darwinism is Dead
- 06:30 - Richard Dawkins Differences
- 17:02 - Purpose As Individual Agents / Purpose Given
- 26:05 - Function vs. Purpose in Living Systems
- 33:30 - Gaia Hypothesis (Lovelock)
- 37:46 - Anti-Natalist
- 41:52 - “The Only Free Will Worth Having”
- 46:52 - Stochasticity
- 52:50 - Rupert Sheldrake / Morphic Resonance
- 59:11 - Holism
- 01:06:32 - Dualism / Separate Laws for Separate Parts
- 01:18:01 - Multi-Cellularity Emerged Long Ago
- 01:34:00 - Maladaptive Evolution Happens All the Time
- 01:39:18 - Denis Noble & Richard Dawkins
- 01:45:27 - What is Purpose? (For Agents)
- 01:53:22 - Outro / Support TOE

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RESOURCES:

- Richard Dawkins book: https://www.amazon.com/Selfish-Gene-Anniversary-Introduction/dp/0199291152
- Denis Noble’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Living-Systems-Life/dp/1009277367
- Gerald Edelman’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Neural-Darwinism-Theory-Neuronal-Selection/dp/0465049346
- Denis Noble’s paper with Daniel Phillips: https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1113/JP284420
- The Music of Life (Denis’ book): https://www.amazon.com/Music-Life-Biology-Beyond-Genes/dp/0199228361
- Dance to the Tune of Life (Denis’ book): https://www.amazon.com/Dance-Tune-Life-Biological-Relativity/dp/1107176247
- Denis’ Progress in Biophysics paper: http://www.voicesfromoxford.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Shapiro-Noble-2021.pdf
- The Illusions of the Modern Synthesis (Denis’s paper): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12304-021-09405-3
- The Origin of Species (Charles Darwin’s book): https://www.amazon.com/Origin-Species-Charles-Darwin/dp/0517123207
- Dawkins/Noble debate (transcript): https://www.denisnoble.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/TranscriptReferences.pdf

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science.

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