[extropy-chat] Reith Lectures 2003: The Emerging Mind

Giu1i0 Pri5c0 gpmap at runbox.com
Sat Dec 20 05:53:05 UTC 2003


>From Kuro5hin: The BBC inaugurated the Reith Lectures in 1948. Every year a
leading figure is invited to deliver a series of public lectures informed by
their particular field of expertise. The purpose of the lectures is "to
advance public understanding and debate about significant issues of
contemporary interest". The first Reith Lectures were given by Bertrand
Russell and notable contributors have consented to participate ever since.
Former Reith Lecturers include Robert Oppenheimer, JK Galbraith, John
Searle, Steve Jones and Edward Said. This year's Reith Lecturer was
Professor Vilayanur Ramachandran, Director of the Centre for Brain and
Cognition and professor with the Psychology Department and the Neurosciences
Programme at the University of California, San Diego.
Professor Ramachandran's approach to neuroscience is guided by the principle
that the examination of unusual and rare neurological disorders can yield
fresh insights into the mechanisms of the normal brain. Many of the
disorders he investigates have been known to medicine for some time,
neglected as borderline cases or mere curiosities until now. In a series of
lectures entitled The Emerging Mind, Professor Ramachandran takes the
listener on a tour of unusual psychological phenomena and, through an
examination of the associated neurology, arrives at some startling
conclusions about the human brain. He goes on to consider the possible
implications of these conclusions for subjects as varied as consciousness,
identity, free will, religion, aesthetics, art and the origins of language.
Both the lectures and the discussions can be read in transcript form or
listened to as a RealAudio stream.
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