The Froghall View

RSA: 21st Century Enlightenment



Matthew Taylor explores the meaning of 21st century enlightenment, how the idea might help us meet the challenges we face today, and the role that can be played by organisations such as the RSA.

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The Struggle for the (Possible) Soul of David Eagleman

"I can tell you from my internal experience, and from my scientific training. Internally, I have felt as I’ve gotten older that I am not the same as my body, despite all of the neuroscience. How do I put this? What’s clear is that I depend entirely on the integrity of my body. As things in my brain change—if I were to develop a tumor, for example—that could completely change who I am, how I think. So I’m somehow yoked to my brain in a very strong way, and the question for all of us is, are we yoked to it 100 percent or is there some other little bit going on? From the inside, I have an intuition that I’m not just equivalent to my body. That said, intuitions always prove to be a very poor judge of reality. So, if you ask me, ‘do I have a soul?’ I would say ‘you know, I kind of feel like there’s something about me that’s a little separate from the biology.’ But I have no evidence for that.” http://killingthebuddha.com/mag/witness/the-struggle-for-the-possible-soul-of-david-eagleman/

Jonathan Haidt: The New Science of Morality

An absolute corker from Jonathan Haidt, brought to you by edge.org.

Haidt connects bottom-up and top down approaches in psychology and neurology, evolutionary theory and moral philosophy to deliver this deliciously appealing Humean perspective on the age old conundrum of morality. Persuasive, illuminating, clear and insightful - you won't forget this one.

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