Robert Tulip wrote: The most interesting comment in the chapter picks up this theme of human imaginative freedom:

Consciousness...can be thought of as the culmination of an evolutionary trend towards the emancipation of survival machines as executive decision-takers from their ultimate masters, the genes. (p63)

This statement is problematic, as it suggests human consciousness and imagination have made evolution obsolete.

Evolution by natural selection is a fascinating topic, but I've wondered whether people sometimes invest it with semi-religious qualities, holding onto it as some means of hope for our future. Like Geo, I've assumed that at this point, evolution--if we mean evolution by natural selection--is pretty much out of the picture for our species. What we will have, I guess, is populations changing in undefiined ways and plain old history instead of evolution. Concsiousness has allowed us to take over where evolution ended. Dawkins doesn't seem to be saying, though, that consciousness will emancipate us from our genes, only that it takes us in that direction.

Dwill: "Concsiousness has allowed us to take over where evolution ended."

It's interesting that the critical thinking book we're currently discussing is all about the shortcomings of our consciousness, the biases that we've evolved.