>> it is a good question. 151 years ago, charles darwin set the pace at which we could evolve new capabilitiesalthough he may not have known it at the time, he also determined that civilizations could only progress as far as our evolutionry capabilities. so if that is the case, we will progress beyond the capabilities of our human brain. if that were the thing that was going on today, if it is the reason we're experiencing gridlock and washington d.c. and our own lifes, i don't know about you but in the recent mid term election, i whacked into the voting booth and i had a heck of a time trying to understand all of the ballot measures. i felt guilty about the fact that i may cast a vote based on 30 second commercials. i noticed five of my neighbors all had the same lawn sign. i was tempted to cast my vote that way. if i'm that irrational, what kind of democracy do i expect to live in? if i'm going to act in a irrational way, we'll end up with irrational public policy. if we're hitting a cog knitive threshold that earlier civilizations hit, what could we do about it. that's the first third. the

. >> reporter: he says it's a common misconsthaepgs charles darwin came up with the idea of survivalthe fittest. what darwin actually said was sympathy was the strongest human emotion. >> i think the new science says it's really the survival of the kindest. >> the big question is what makes people happy. >> reporter: uc berkeley sociologist kristine carter says teaching gratitude is key to raising happy children. >> gratitude is so closely associated with happiness it's practically the same thing. >> reporter: as we pause to give thanks today, we can be thankful for the kindness that is in our dna, just waiting to be used. george lewis, nbc news, los angeles. >>> and that is our broadcast for this thanksgiving. thank you for being with us. i'm carl quintanilla. brian williams will be back here tomorrow evening. >>> as we leave you, more of the sights and sounds of the 84th macy's thanksgiving day parade here in new york city. good night. ♪ -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> another freeze alert this holiday weekend and rain on the way too. good evening, i'm vicky nguyen. happy

charles darwin put the galapagos islands on the map with his famous book, "the origin of species."hat latin american country counts the galapagos among its provinces? we'll have that answer coming up. and also just ahead, we'll show you how latino voters could prove to be president-makers in the upcong 2008 elections. "hispanics today" will be right back. ♪ >>> the hispanic community has been very supportive, very committed, very enthusiastic about participating in the census. the community undersnds the importance of the census. we have seen it across the country. we have over 210,000 paners. a partner can be a fortune 100 company down to a local chamber of commerce, church. our partners are trusted voices. they extends the message of e census and can do it far better than the government. >> census data is used to distribute, for example, federal dollars. as i mentioned, census data is used to make decisions. if we don't have an accurate count of particular area, locality, city, then we don't know how many dollars should be designated to that community, because those dollars are t

. >> he said it's a common misconception that charles darwin came up with.t darwin said was sympathy is the strongest human emotion. >> the new science said it's survival of the kindest. >> the big question is, what makes people happy? >> uc berkeley sociologist said teaching gratitude is key to raising happy children. >> it's so closely associated with happiness that it's practically the same thing. >> as we pause to give thanks, we can be thankful for the kindness in our dna waiting to be used. nbc news, los angeles. >> time now is 6:37. people flock to theaters to see blue aliens. will they do the same for blue bloods? what's in store for the royal wedding? how to keep your holiday zone in the coming weeks and a report. the dangers of secondhand smoke from the first global side on the topic. >> another frosty morning and pret to look at, but chill to step outside. a live view of oakland where temperatures dipped into the 30s. a look at the weekend forecast next on today in the bay. >>> welcome back. here's a view of san francisco seen from the san bruno m

so, there are a number of charles dickens is buried there, charles darwin. they're all buried there. there's also a very moving memorial inside westminster abbey. in november 1920 the remains of an unknown british soldier were brought back from france after the first world war ii and buried and there's now something called the tomb of the unknown soldier and it's a beautiful memorial, really, a very powerful symbol. of course, the other thing is prince williams' mother's funeral service took place in the same building. >> how nice, the site of such a celebration and, ashley, what might this celebration look like. we talked about the fact that the economy is down and they don't want to look tooa stentatious but it is going to be one heck of a wedding, isn't it? >> a lot of speculation over what dress kate will wear. she's very glamorous and tall and slim. her favorite designer of late a label she wore when she announced her engagement. that beautiful blue dress but deemed a little bit too sexy and also not a british designer, which she almost certainly will w

for you to say that it was the implementation of charles darwin is an insult to this audience. darwin's thought was not taught in germany. it was in every form of unbelief that all the great atheists think of darwin and einstein were alike by the national socialist regime, and there's a misprint in a german article that evolution requires the survival of the fittist is taken, a statement never made by darwin as anyone knows say thats adaptability is what is likeliest to give us survival or luck or advantage, we better say in the struggle. now, just to take the most notorious, the example, the most perfected, ruthless and refined one, the one of national socialism, that allowed the escape of the thinkers and others to the united states, country of separation of church and state. if it's an ate -- atheistic regime, how come hitler says he's doing god's work and executing god's will in destroying the jewish people? how come the officer of the party in the army had to take making hitler into a minor god begins i swear in the name of almighty god? how come the first treaty made, the

for you to say that it was the implementation of the work of charles darwin is a filthy slander undeserving of you and an insult to this audience. darwin's fonts' wasn't taught in germany to leave to germany along with every other form of a belief the great purists would like by the national isasi get regime and i believe it is a misprint in one of the species for which the statement the evolution requires st in the statement never made by darwin who asks anyone who knows says that adaptability is what is likely to give voluble luck or an advantage we better say in the struggle. just to take the most in some notorious, the most famous example, the most protected one, the most ruthless and refined, that of national socialism, the one that fortunately allow the peacekeepers the greediest thinkers and others to the united states, country of separation of church and state benefits of. if it is an atheist regime then how come in the first chapter he says he's doing got's work in destroying the jewish people? how come every officer of the party in the army had to take making hitler into a minor g