What it Means to be Human
Drawing on a range of disciplines, this provocative program looked at how discoveries in areas like fundamental physics, anthropology, and genomics are influencing our understanding of uniquely human characteristics. As science increasingly tests these boundaries — from the roots of morality and our capacity to contemplate our own existence to the emergence of artificial intelligence — what will it mean to be human?
The event was moderated by Charlie Rose. Participants include philosopher Daniel Dennett, artist Jonathan Harris, anthropologist Ian Tattersall, geneticist Francis Collins, neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, philosopher Patricia Churchland, sociologist Nikolas Rose, embryonic stem cell biologist Renee Reijo Pera, and Nobel Laureates Harold Varmus and Paul Nurse.
Image © iStockphoto.com/urbancow
Neuroethicist Patricia Churchland explores the complex philosophical and ethical impact that the rapidly expanding field of neuroscience has on society. She is the President's Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego, and an adjunct professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla.
Francis Collins is known for his landmark discoveries of disease genes and leadership of the Human Genome Project, an international project that culminated in April 2003 with the completion of a finished sequence of the human DNA instruction book. For his accomplishments, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2007.
Antonio Damasio is one of the world’s leading neurologists and neuroscientists and has made seminal contributions to the understanding of how the brain processes emotion, decision, and consciousness. Some of these have been described in his books Descartes’ Error, The Feeling of What Happens, and Looking for Spinoza, which have been translated into over 30 languages. 
Daniel Dennett is a philosopher who studies mind and consciousness through the lens of evolutionary biology and cognitive science. Author of several bestselling books including Darwin’s Dangerous Idea and Consciousness Explained, he is the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University.
Sylvester James (Jim) Gates, Jr. is currently the John S. Toll Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland-College Park. In spring of 2009 he was appointed to serve on President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and the Maryland State Board of Education.
Combining elements of computer science, anthropology, visual art and storytelling, Jonathan Harris (b. 1979) designs systems to explore and explain the human world.
Marvin Minsky is one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence and had made numerous contributions to the fields of AI, cognitive science, mathematics and robotics. His current work focuses on trying to imbue machines with a capacity for common sense. Minsky is a professor at MIT, where he co-founded the artificial intelligence lab.
Paul Nurse is a Nobel Laureate and the President of Rockefeller University, where he continues to do research in cell biology. He is the former Chief Executive of Cancer Research, UK. In 1999 he was knighted in Great Britain for his contributions to cancer research.
Reijo Pera is a professor and the Director of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Education Center at Stanford University. Her research is aimed at understanding the developmental genetics of human germ cell formation and differentiation. Her early work resulted in identification of one of the first genes specifically implicated in human germ cell development. Subsequently her laboratory has established techniques for differentiation of human embryonic stem cells to germ cells and genetic manipulation of the pathways. 
Sociologist Nikolas Rose is interested in how genomics affects personal identity and the social and legal ramifications of studying the human genome. He is the James Martin White Professor of Sociology and the Director of the BIOS Centre for the Study of Bioscience, Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Society at the London School of Economics.
Emmy award winning journalist Charlie Rose has been praised as "one of America's premiere interviewers." He is the host of Charlie Rose, the nightly PBS program that engages America's preeminent thinkers, writers, politicians, athletes, entertainers, business leaders, scientists and other newsmakers.
Ian Tattersall is a prominent anthropologist whose work focuses on the evolution of humans and other primates. He is a curator for the division of anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and an adjunct professor at Columbia University and the City University of New York.
Harold Varmus received the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with Dr. J. Michael Bishop, his former colleague at the University of California, San Francisco, for their discovery of cellular genes that are progenitors of retroviral oncogenes. This discovery led to the isolation of many cellular genes that normally control growth and development and are frequently mutated in human cancer.Venue
NYU Skirball CenterThis event made possible with the support of
as part of the Big Ideas Series
