Is evolution predictable? The guest for this podcast is with Simon Conway Morris, Professor of Evolutionary Palaeobiology at the University of Cambridge. Famous for his work on the Cambrian explosion and the concept of evolutionary convergence, Conway Morris has written influential books including Life’s Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe, The Runes of Evolution, and From Extraterrestrials to Animal Minds.

In this conversation, we talk about why convergence — the independent evolution of similar traits across unrelated species — offers evidence for deep constraints on the evolution of life. We’ll discuss major evolutionary transitions such as the origin of eukaryotes, sudden explosions of complexity, and the narrow “design space” within which evolution operates. We’ll examine whether traits like intelligence and consciousness are inevitable, why extinction often leads to familiar replacements, and how evolution’s predictability might extend to technology, culture, and even artificial intelligence.