Political Science departmental doctoral seminar - "We are Hardwired Not to be Hardwired"

Type: 
Departmental Seminar
Audience: 
Open to the Public
Building: 
Nador u. 9, Faculty Tower
Room: 
908
Thursday, October 18, 2012 - 1:30pm
Add to Calendar
Date: 
Thursday, October 18, 2012 - 1:30pm to 3:10pm

 

You are cordially invited to the upcoming seminar that will take place on Thursday, 18 October, 2012 from 13:30 in FT 908.

 

Darren Schreiber 
(Visiting Researcher at CEU Department of Political Science,
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of California, San Diego)
 
will have a talk on
 
"We are Hardwired Not to be Hardwired"
The central contention of my book is that Your Brain is Built for Politics.  The brains of humans are the product of a three million year old cognitive arms race where ever larger brains were required to manage the shifting coalitions of an ever more complex social environment, which then advantaged even more complex brains.  While simple, deterministic genetic and neural structures are perfectly capable of thriving in environments with simple social dynamics, the dynamic coalitions of human society are possible because of a variety of mechanisms that enable our genetic flexibility and neural plasticity.  These mechanisms then facilitate culture, language, and intentional minds, which empower an additional level of elasticity.  The consequence then of a brain built for politics is that We are Hardwired Not to be Hardwired.
 
Schedule and further info on seminars are available:
  
Doctoral School of Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations
Central European University
H-1051 Budapest, Nador u. 15.
Tel.: +36-1-327-3000/2496