President's Speaker Series at Yale-NUS: Frans de Waal "Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?" | Peatixtag:peatix.com,2011:12019-11-02T04:10:19+08:00PeatixYale-NUS CollegePresident's Speaker Series at Yale-NUS: Frans de Waal "Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?"tag:peatix.com,2017:event-2357222017-03-06T18:30:00SGT2017-03-06T18:30:00SGT
Update 2 March 2017: SOLD OUTFor more events with Frans de Waal in Singapore click here.What sets humans apart from other animals? Intelligence?
Frans de Waal challenges the view that there is a wall separating human and
animal intelligence. Modern neuroscience increasingly supports his view.
Human mental uniqueness claims have fallen one by one over the last few
decades. Other primates are now seen as political, cultural, perhaps even moral
beings. This revolution in recognizing the cognitive capacity has been rippling
beyond the primates to include the entire animal kingdom, from tool-using crows
to cooperating dolphins. New discoveries also suggest unexpected abilities in
animals, such as awareness of their own knowledge (metacognition) or an ability
to reflect on past and future (time travel).
Frans de Waal will
provide an overview of the findings and the methods used to make such
discoveries in primates, elephants, octopuses, corvids, cetaceans, and fish.
The central message of this new science, known as evolutionary cognition,
is one of mental continuity across all species, with human intelligence being a
variety of animal intelligence.
Q&A
will follow the address.
About
Frans de Waal
Dr.
Frans B. M. de Waal is a Dutch/American ethologist and biologist known
for his work on the behaviour and social intelligence of primates. His first
book, Chimpanzee Politics (1982) compared the schmoozing and scheming of
chimpanzees involved in power struggles with that of human politicians. Ever
since, de Waal has drawn parallels between primate and human behaviour, from
peacemaking and morality to culture. His scientific work has been published in
technical articles in journals such as Science, Nature, Scientific
American, and outlets specialized in animal behaviour. His popular books -
translated into over twenty languages - have made him one of the world's most
visible primatologists. His latest books are The Bonobo and the Atheist
(Norton, 2013) and Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
(Norton, 2016).
De
Waal is C. H. Candler Professor in the Psychology Department of Emory
University and Director of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National
Primate Research Center, in Atlanta, Georgia. He is also Distinguished
Professor at Utrecht University. He has been elected to the (US) National
Academy of Sciences and the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences. In 2007, he was
selected by Time as one of The Worlds’ 100 Most Influential People
Today, and in 2011 by Discover as among 47 (all time) Great Minds of
Science.
Updatestag:peatix.com,2017-03-02 06:15:592017-03-02 06:15:59The event description was updated. Diff#229886Updatestag:peatix.com,2017-03-02 06:15:432017-03-02 06:15:43The event description was updated. Diff#229884Updatestag:peatix.com,2017-03-02 06:15:342017-03-02 06:15:34The event description was updated. Diff#229883Updatestag:peatix.com,2017-02-28 07:03:552017-02-28 07:03:55The event description was updated. Diff#229247Updatestag:peatix.com,2017-02-28 07:01:552017-02-28 07:01:55The event description was updated. Diff#229246Updatestag:peatix.com,2017-02-28 07:01:472017-02-28 07:01:47The event description was updated. Diff#229245Updatestag:peatix.com,2017-02-16 07:11:512017-02-16 07:11:51The event description was updated. Diff#226333