Long Now cover image

Sean Carroll: The Passage of Time and the Meaning of Life

Long Now

CHAPTER

The Evolution of Imagination

Malcholm mc iver, who is a neuro scientist at northwestern university, has a theory about this. His theory is that it comes back down to the first fish that climbed on to land. And mac ivor's idea is that when you're a fish, you can't see that far in front of you. Even if you're in very clear water. The attenuation length of light in water is only a few meters. So all of the evolutionary pressure when you live in the water is to see something and react to it right away. Whereas when you climb on to land, now you can see forever,. roughly speaking, right on a clear day. There is no obstacle

00:00
Transcript
Play full episode

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts

Save insights instantly, chat with episodes, and build lasting knowledge - all powered by AI.
App store bannerPlay store banner