The bubble-up theory of everything

Oh, Dan Dennett, you know how to push all my happy buttons. In this extended interview by Richard Dawkins (another likable, if occassionally wayward chap) from The Genius of Charles Darwin, my favourite philosopher talks about his bottom-up or bubble-up view of complexity and consciousness, the opposite of the trickle-down conception held by most people. Bubble-up theories use cranes, rigorous explanations that work from a very simple level upwards, whereas trickle-down theories rely on skyhooks: usually one big miracle to start with and let all explanation follow from that. The classic example is explaining the complexity of the biosphere through the behaviour and interaction of simple chemical replicators (evolution by natural selection) rather than invoking a supernatural designer.

In this interview, Dennett and Dawkins also discuss death and consolation. It's interesting to see how both have developed a secular life stance that is emotionally, and not only intellectually, strong. Since the footage is uncut, you can also see them bumbling around and talking behind the scenes starting at 35:47. It made me laugh seeing how some of the different segments of conversation were contrived, with Dawkins getting slightly annoyed at being asked to repeat himself. What follows 43:30 is an extremely cute Dennett moment. Stay tuned as well for the nurse crop/religion metaphor at the end.