Ramachandran/Kurzweil
Humanity Now/Humanity Next
Humanity Now/Humanity Next
Thursday, May 29, 2008, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
In this special presentation with the Rubin Museum of Art, neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran explored the origin of human abilities and whether certain brain structures are unique to humans or whether they evolved from structures originally designed for other functions while inventor and futurist, Ray Kurzweil, examined the human implications if artificial intelligence surpasses our own. The event was moderated by Faith Salie.
Participants:
Ray Kurzweil is an inventor, entrepreneur, and futurist. In several books for a general audience he has laid out his vision of a merger of man and machine that he contends will shape the future of humankind.
V.S. Ramachandran investigates the nature of self and human consciousness. His work spans the causes and effects of synesthesia and phantom limb pain to questions about visual perception and the brain. He is Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego.
Faith Salie hosts Treehugger TV on Discovery’s Planet Green and Sundance Channel’s coverage of the Sundance Film Festival. She is a panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me and a contributor to CBS News Sunday Morning, Oprah.com, Slate.com, VH1, and Fox News. As an actor and comedian, she’s appeared in numerous sitcoms and dramas—from Bravo’s Significant Others to Sex and the City. Faith earned her sci-fi cred singing an aria and getting beamed up as the genetically-engineered savant Sarina Douglas on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.This event produced in collaboration with
