This event has passed
Where:
St Paul’s Cathedral Melbourne, Cnr Swanston and Flinders Streets.
Speaker: A/Prof. Alan Gijsbers, President of ISCAST.
Topic: Are Humans Just Computers Made of Flesh? What does neuroscience say about who I am.
Date: Thursday 17th August, 6.30 pm
Venue: St Paul’s Cathedral Melbourne, Cnr Swanston and Flinders Streets.
Abstract:
The idea that a human is hardware made of flesh and the essence of the person, sometimes called the soul, is the software, is superficially attractive. But is this a fair analogy, or are the differences between humans and computers too great to accept that analogy? I will look at how neuroscience describes humans and how we understand those attributes that make us human – our emotions, our reasoning, our subjectivity, our sense of self and our relationships. How do we understand ourselves? Humans are storied animals and our stories shape our own personal understanding and the understanding of our community. We will look at the impact of the fundamental Christian story on who we are and what our hopes will be.