What are such things as emotion, purpose, and meaning? In this presentation, Terrence Deacon, neuroscientist and chair of UC Berkeley’s Anthropology Department, addresses such crucial questions in the study of consciousness. Prof. Deacon’s presentation will focus on the central idea of his new book, “Incomplete Nature,” namely that key elements of consciousness emerge from specific constraints on the physical processes of a nervous system. As physicists work toward completing a theory of the universe and biologists unravel the molecular complexity of life, a glaring incompleteness in this scientific vision becomes apparent. The “Theory of Everything” that appears to be emerging includes everything but us: the feelings, meanings, consciousness, and purposes that make us (and many of our animal cousins) what we are. More Info Here
Read More