One of the most famous scenes in Shakespeare takes place in a graveyard. The grave-digger informs the young prince, Hamlet, that the skull belongs to the court jester, Yorick, ‘who was wont to set the table on a roar’.

Hamlet, holding the skull in his hand, reflects on the transitory nature of life. The beloved Yorick is no more. Hamlet’s noble father, the king of Denmark is dead – murdered by his own brother. Hamlet’s father is now a tormented ghost seeking to be avenged. Even ‘Great Alexander’ is now ‘dust’.

I wonder what the great poet would make of those who would argue that the macabre object in Hamlet’s hand was once a living, breathing human being accidentally – by chance – that the court jester’s wit and brilliance just evolved.

‘Alas! Poor Fools!

Chugley, The Meditative Chimpanzee (who is supposedly ‘evolving’ into a human being).