This book shows the important role of chance. The asteroid that hit earth about 66 million years ago caused the large animals like dinosaurs to become extinct giving the opportunity for small mammals and later primates to thrive. If that asteroid had hit a few minutes earlier or later it would have landed in the ocean. Continental drift is a slow process but the India plate is much thinner and moves a lot faster. Its crashing into Asia changed the climate to be more favorable to primates and then humans. So our species is lucky to be here. See also Full House by Steven Jay Gould that draws similar conclusions
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