What it Means to be Human
Drawing on a range of disciplines, this provocative program looks 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?
Participants include philosopher Daniel Dennett, artist Jonathan Harris, anthropologist Ian Tattersall, neuroscientist Giulio Tononi, philosopher Patricia Churchland, sociologist Nikolas Rose, and Nobel Laureates Harold Varmus and Paul Nurse.
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Patricia Churchland
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.
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Francis Collins
Francis Collins led the Human Genome Project, which was first to sequence all of the information encoded in human DNA. His research focuses on the relationship between genetic variation and diseases. He is the Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health.
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Daniel Dennett
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.
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Jonathan Harris
Award-winning artist Jonathan Harris combines elements of computer science, anthropology, visual art and storytelling to explore and explain the human world. His work has been exhibited at Le Centre Pompidou and the Museum of Modern Art.
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Paul Nurse
- Moderator, Nobel Laureate, Medicine 2001
Nobel Prize-winner Paul Nurse is President of Rockefeller University. The recipient of many awards, he was knighted in Great Britain for his contributions to cancer research and cell biology. He has interviewed numerous scientists as the co-host of The Charlie Rose Science Series on PBS.
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Nikolas Rose
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.
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Ian Tattersall
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.
The above is a partial list of participants — expanding soon.
This event is part of the Big Ideas Series supported by the
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