So, when I first start writing these evolution raps, about six months ago,
Some of the early drafts, they sounded kinda like this:
“Yo, yo, the Origin of Species
Ain’t no feces, dawg, believe me…”
And that’s all I could think of
So then I thought, this needs to be re-written
By looking at the similarities in development in different animals, researchers hope to identify ancestral relationships.
And sometimes people ask: “How does your show get written?”
Like this: performance, feedback, revision
And how do I generally develop my lyricism?
Like this: performance, feedback, revision
And how do human beings ever learn to do anything?
Like this: performance, feedback, revision
And evolution is really an algorithm that goes
Like this: performance, feedback, revision
So the genetic code of every living thing was written.
Like this: performance, feedback, revision
See, the genes are like a text with a thousand pages.
And revision occurs in the random changes
That come from mutations, and when they see the light
That’s the performance, that’s the phenotype
And natural selection is the feedback side
That’s about who survives and whose genes catch rides
In the next generation, yes, what I’m saying
Is that a rap performance like this is the best illustration
Of the way descent with modification works
‘Cause the performance is necessary to change the words
A reconstruction of ambulocetus the 'walking whale'.
To decide which have an impact and which to send back
To the drawing board, in fact I just did that
When you failed to react, ’cause any line can change
And mutations occur when I improvise on stage
‘Cause up until this moment, everything I said was off the page.
But now it’s time for me to switch to freestyle, yeah, random speeches
Charles Darwin was right, you could examine his thesis
Even though creationists are always trying to smash it to pieces
Evo devo people found for it up in an animal’s fetus.
And archaeologists found evidence for it up in ambulocetus
Yeah, that’s the bones they found of a walking whale.
I’m kinda cocky with my tales, plus I see evidence for evolution
Everytime I talk to females; You can see it in their eyes
The way they sparkle, with my vocabulary
The proboscis monkey's nose is thought to be a sexually selected characteristic that females find attractive.
Plus they’re kind of impressed that I rap on the Tales of Canterbury
So when I talk to my ancestors in my sleep, I’m like “Thank you very
Much!” ‘Cause you gave me the skills to leave mad descendants
Yes, creationists are mad pretentious; I’m just tryin’ to smash these sentences
I’m tryin’ to dispel all creationist myths like I was Daniel Dennett
Because I think religion is pretty much just an anaesthetic
But I’m gonna have to take it to that place, and rap frickin’ awesome
Yes, you know I’m tryin’ to be the Hip-hop version of Richard Dawkins
Even though his attitude can sometimes be a little pompous
I think his powers of logic are frickin’ awesome
Plus he’s dealin’ with the central problem of modern life
It’s belief in reason versus passive belief in an afterlife
Which leads to things like animal and human sacrifice
Yeah, I’m tryin to come through kinda shifty
Like I was a purse-snatcher; you can call me the word-master
Most rappers next to me kinda look like Homo ergaster
Or Homo erectus I’m just tryin’ to use Darwin
To get a total perspective that’s right, that’s how I rip it up
Homo ergaster skull (KNM-ER 3733) discovered by Bernard Ngeneo in 1975 (Kenya)
Creationists are trippin’ up; yes, I’m tryin’ to take it back
To the days of Australopithecus, you could try to follow me
But first you’d better study human nature and base it
On primatology; otherwise it won’t be very worthy
Just ask Ms Sarah Hrdy; yes, she had some theories
That she tried to give to all of us, yes, I’m tryin’ to abolish
All the creationist non-knowledge, and show them evidence
Like the bones of Tiktaalik; yes, this is how I’m just
Tryin’ to represent it for my fam; I learned about my origins
Up in the Descent of Man
And that’s how my show gets written and re-written
Like this: performance, feedback, revision
And anyone can use this algorithm to learn anything
Like this: performance, feedback, revision
But remember, you get the feedback, and you make the decision
Like this: performance, feedback, revision
You wanna know about evolution? This is the definition
Like this: performance, feedback, revision
Baba – your powers of persuasion are frickin’ awesome! You make Natural Selection so easy to understand…even a caveman can do it (or a Young Earth Creationist). Brilliant!
Excellent!
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I see great potential here – what with the whole site and everything…
Kudos!
Haha, I love it!!
As an evolutionary geneticist I approve of this. Very, very nicely done. I bet kids love this. Keep it up bro!
Dr. D keepin’ it real. Now back to the street, kickin’ it with my homies.
Performance, feedback, revision! I love it. I’m a grad student studying evolution right now — and I think this is just fantastic! Some feedback for your next set of videos: I notice that the first two posted here are in minor chords. I propose you mix it up and add some major melodies as well : ) Great job!
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Thanks for the performance. My feedback:
1. McGrath demolishes Richard Dawkins in his book _The Dawkins Delusion_ and at http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Alister+McGrath+Dawkins+Delusion&mid=549F931037B345F89943549F931037B345F89943&view=detail&FORM=VIRE1.
2. In _The Language of Science and Faith_, Giberson and Collins show that Stephen Hawkings’ multiverse hypothesis, as an alternative to the idea that a Creator has fine-tuned our universe, is rather faith-based and irrelevant. (See pp. 189-90.)
3. Baba’s charming, informative presentation certainly has a creator–Baba! Why wouldn’t our fabulously rich universe and our intriguing existence on earth have one as well? I’ll have more comments, but I’d welcome Baba’s response–and perhaps revision!
Thanks for your feedback Dan. I wouldn’t revise my lyrics based on feedback from the likes of McGrath or Collins (unless Collins found a technical error in my take on genetics), but I will happily refer you to Biologist P Z Myers for a much more incisive response to McGrath’s criticism of Dawkins than I could come up with myself. Enjoy: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/08/they_let_anybody_onto_the_facu.php
Keep in mind that the songs on this website are intended to summarize the current scientific consensus in regards to evolution, and if the findings of science are offensive to your personal religious beliefs, then so much the worse for your beliefs.
Baba
Also, here is a more rigorous but less entertaining evisceration of McGrath: http://homepages.shu.ac.uk/~llrdjb/shs/delusion.html
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You actually make it appear so easy together with your presentation however I find this matter to be actually something that I feel I might by no means understand. It kind of feels too complex and very wide for me. I am having a look forward in your next publish, I’ll try to get the dangle of it!
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I heard about you guys on NPR! Great work!
This has always been one of my favs off the Rap Guide to Evolution album. Now I have the visual. You can be sure my intro biological anthropology students will be watching this in class and humming during exams. Keep up the awesome work Baba!!!
Thanks Jin! If you use the video in your classroom please take a moment to fill out the survey and let me know how it was received!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/evolutionvideos
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