# Episode 124: Popper's Evolutionary Theory of Knowledge

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-theory-of-anything-859886/episode-124-popper-s-evolutionary-theory-of-knowledge
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-theory-of-anything-859886/episode-124-popper-s-evolutionary-theory-of-knowledge.md
Podcast: [The Theory of Anything](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-theory-of-anything-859886)
Published: 2025-12-09T12:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/four-strands/episodes/Episode-124-Poppers-Evolutionary-Theory-of-Knowledge-e3b20j1
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/14b6fc10/podcast/play/111263777/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-10-16%2F519b950c-be68-db78-2b9e-426e07ed4941.mp3
Processing state: processed
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-theory-of-anything-859886/episodes/episode-124-popper-s-evolutionary-theory-of-knowledge
Duration seconds: 4866

## Resource

aka "The Popper vs Campbell Beatdown!" At long last! The showdown you've all been waiting for! These two giants of epistemology meet in the ring and fight it out for dominance! Bruce continues his exploration of evolutionary epistemology, or the idea that all knowledge creation in nature is analogous to natural selection. Specifically, Bruce discusses how Karl Popper’s critical rationalism is—and is not—related to Donald Campbell’s concept of evolutionary epistemology, which it seems Popper mostly endorsed. But is Popper’s conjecture and refutation really the same as Campbell’s blind variation and selective retention? And would Popper have agreed with David Deutsch that "All an animal's knowledge is in its genes?" (In fact, Popper explicitly answers that question! Multiple times! Tune in to find out!) ⁠Support us on Patreon

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## Transcript

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