This is a talk by Richard Dawkins on how bizarre the natural world appears but how it only appears weird due to our brain’s evolution. We’ve evolved to tackle the challenges of living in an Africa safari, not delving into the inner workings of the universe. Still we march on and expand our knowledge of the universe, but it all seems a bit “queer”; for lack of a more appropriate word.

My favourite quote;

We are now so used to the idea that the Earth spins rather than the Sun moves across the sky. It’s hard for us to realize what a shattering mental revolution that must have been. After all it seems obvious that the Earth is large and motionless, the Sun small and mobile. But it is worth recalling Wittgenstein’s remark on the subject. “Tell me”, he asked a friend, “Why do people always say it was natural for man to assume that the Sun went around the Earth rather than that the Earth was rotating?” His friend replied, “Well obviously because it just looks as though the Sun is going around the Earth!” Wittgenstein replied, “Well what would it have looked like if it had looked as though the Earth was rotating?”

From: TEDblog