Cath B
03 Mar 2009, 06:50 PM
I rewarded myself for getting round to answering the relentless flow of letters my solicitor has been chucking at me of late by....
booking myself in for three talks at the Edinburgh Science Festival!
Culture Evolves in the Animal World (http://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/Events/Talking-Science/Culture-Evolves-in-the-Animal-World) by Andrew Whiten.
The ability of humans to build up complex cultures has seemed to put us on a different plane to other animals. It’s what has allowed us to dominate the planet. In recent years, however, long-term studies of other species have revealed varies signs of culture. This lecture illustrates highlights of the new discoveries.
I've been to a talk by Whiten before. I'm hoping he'll talk a bit about elephants as well as the Great Apes, but should be good anyway.
Sex, Drugs and Chocolate (http://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/Events/Talking-Science/Sex-Drugs-and-Chocolate) by Paul Martin
A look at the changing attitudes to pleasure over the centuries, including religious and legal attempts to control it, together with the biological and psychological drivers behind our hedonistic impulses.
Bought tickets without googling Paul Martin cos I thought it looked promising.
And finally:-
The Purpose of Purpose (http://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/Events/Talking-Science/The-Purpose-of-Purpose) by Richard Dawkins.
the quote from the paper programme is better than the online one:-
We humans are obsessed with purpose. What is it for? What is its purpose. There are two kinds of purpose, as in deliberate human design (a plane's wing) and the illusion of purpose that Darwinian natural selection creates. (a bird's wing). But the second kind of purpose came first, and the human capacity to set up "true" purposes is itself a product of Darwinian selection.
OK, nothing I didn't already know so far. But he'll have more than that to say and it'll be great to see him in action.
booking myself in for three talks at the Edinburgh Science Festival!
Culture Evolves in the Animal World (http://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/Events/Talking-Science/Culture-Evolves-in-the-Animal-World) by Andrew Whiten.
The ability of humans to build up complex cultures has seemed to put us on a different plane to other animals. It’s what has allowed us to dominate the planet. In recent years, however, long-term studies of other species have revealed varies signs of culture. This lecture illustrates highlights of the new discoveries.
I've been to a talk by Whiten before. I'm hoping he'll talk a bit about elephants as well as the Great Apes, but should be good anyway.
Sex, Drugs and Chocolate (http://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/Events/Talking-Science/Sex-Drugs-and-Chocolate) by Paul Martin
A look at the changing attitudes to pleasure over the centuries, including religious and legal attempts to control it, together with the biological and psychological drivers behind our hedonistic impulses.
Bought tickets without googling Paul Martin cos I thought it looked promising.
And finally:-
The Purpose of Purpose (http://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/Events/Talking-Science/The-Purpose-of-Purpose) by Richard Dawkins.
the quote from the paper programme is better than the online one:-
We humans are obsessed with purpose. What is it for? What is its purpose. There are two kinds of purpose, as in deliberate human design (a plane's wing) and the illusion of purpose that Darwinian natural selection creates. (a bird's wing). But the second kind of purpose came first, and the human capacity to set up "true" purposes is itself a product of Darwinian selection.
OK, nothing I didn't already know so far. But he'll have more than that to say and it'll be great to see him in action.