At 2:30pm (eastern time) today, some of the world’s preeminent psychologists, neuroscientists, and philosophers will discuss the biology of the mind. The discussion, which takes place at The Helix Center in New York, will focus on whether the very humanconcepts of the mind, consciousness, and self-awareness are merely a function of the mammalian brain’s structure, or whether there’s more to it. By the same measure, the researchers will discuss whether the mind is purely the reserve of humans, or whether it also exists further down the evolutionary scale (does a dog have a mind? how about a bird, or a crocodile?) These questions, of course, will then lead into another topic that’s particularly close to our hearts at ExtremeTech: If the mind exists purely in the morphology (form, structure) of the brain, and doesn’t contain some kind of weird, unquantifiable, magical quality, will we one day be able to engineer an artificial mind?
Biology of Mind is a roundtable discussion being held by The Helix Center, a relatively new foundation that is tasked with the “unhurried search for wisdom” through interdisciplinary investigation. “Philosophically, we stand against the trivialization of thought and the balkanization within and between the sciences and the arts.” Most of this investigation seems to revolve around a series of roundtable discussions, where the Center puts a bunch of bright people in a room together, gives them a topic for discussion, and then sits back to enjoy whatever emerges. Fortunately for us, the discussions are webcast live on YouTube.
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