Richard Dawkins : Why are there still Chimpanzees? - Nebraska Vignettes #2

Richard Dawkins clears up the misunderstanding of Evolution that is all too common: If we descended from Chimpanzees, then why are there still Chimpanzees? Dawkins explains that we DID NOT descend from Chimpanzees—we both share a common ancestor.

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During Richard Dawkins' 2009 American tour, we visited Judy Diamond's "Explore Evolution" exhibit at the University of Nebraska State Museum in Lincoln. This exhibit has now been replicated in six museums around the country. While visiting we filmed a collection of short unrehearsed and unscripted videos—just inspired by the "Explore Evolution" exhibit.

See the "Explore Evolution" web page here:

Special Thanks to:
Dr. Judy Diamond
The University of Nebraska State Museum

See more at:

[SonicZero]

IF AMERICANS CAME FROM ENGLAND WHY ARE THERE STILL ENGLISH PEOPLE

[FancyKerbloops]

IF TOAST COMES FROM BREAD, HOW COME THERE'S STILL BREAD? A real headscratcher for the ages.

[MikeAndNary]

It just amazes me that we humans (most of us anyway) have evolved to where we can understand evolution.

[karllansche]

Thank you. Pity you didn't go more into details of this amazing topics. I would gladly spend an hour or two

[ZzInZaNezZ]

its like asking if americans came from europe why are there still europeans.

[triciakitty]

What's sad is no matter how many times you explain this to some people, they will still use that question in a debate. It's as if their minds are unable to absorb logic and truth.

[IceBlueBeard]

If you are descended from your parents why do your parents still exist?

[carlosfaz]

Everything is clear now! thank you so much!!

[Constantinesis]

I think the meaning of this question is this : Why are we so different than Cimpanzees? I know that some people will say well we are not that different but only in a 1%. Then i ask, does all of our knowledge, mathematics, philosophy and logic, and much more, lie on this single percentage of differrence? I mean there must be some function to describe the difference between our intelligence and Cimpanzees.

[hareecionelson]

A tree of apes in my opinion should include some nodules, and dead end branches along the human line to represent the now extinct hominids which either became separate species or were able to, and did, interbreed with modern humans, such as neanderthal and denisovan man

[kenofarabia]

I now have a big smile on my face. So eloquently illustrated!

[donaugustine]

And the common ancestor
Puff the magic dragon!😂

[Benieg]

So we are closer to chimps that gorillas are to chimps?

[mephistosteiner]

That's awesome! Thanks for showing it so clearly, honestly I struggled with this question for a while!

[mast]

Its unbelievable that we're still discussing this.. When i learned that stuff at age 10 i understood it and it made sense then and still does today!

[featheredskeptic]

It's as simple as can be, the problem is not the lack of understanding on the part of creationists but the active attempt not to understand. You can't pretend you are magicked by an invisible cosmic enchanter if you understand this simple concept, along with the mountain of evidence in support of it. That's the issue we are dealing with, the conscious effort to drop one's IQ to a level where they are incapable of understanding anything about anything so one can make-believe something else.

[worldwidehappiness]

Did Richard Dawkins just say I'm "Great"? Thank's mate! Right back at ya!

[FrozenSurf]

Noooo! It says this vid won't play in my country!? The UK!

[ryanitlab]

I love these quick, little evolution lessons. 

It's useful to take the position of answering Wendy Wright or an Answers in Genesis type question with facts, evidence, and solid evolutionary theory. 

Does this mean creationism has, in a way, become somewhat useful? 

[enigmaticaljedi]

I would like to see where the various homo erectus, and Austra Lapithicus are placed within this framework. Obviously after the split from chimpanzees.

I think what people are often referring to though is why as human's there are so many stages from our common ancestor to modern man, but chimpanzee's have stayed relatively the same. They see this as proof we got it wrong, but just like the shark or crocodile has not changed much in millions of years, when your conditions simply don't warrant or "push" you to adapt, there is simply no need for it.

So while human ancestors moved to areas where the food source started to incorporate fish and where we started to move into more diverse environments (with the advent of farming and construction we no longer had to be nomadic or stick to comfortable surroundings), chimpanzees however remained in the same environment and rarely strayed, thus they had no external influences which necessitated a need for further adaptation.

Including this information would be helpful for those who still try to look for the "holes" :)