Tuesday, November 3, 2009 | Science : Evolution and Biology | print version

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Darwin and the Evolution of Why

Daniel Dennett - YouTube RichardNorton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGn3ITLx_yo&feature=player_embedded#

lecture:1 hour:27 minutes
The Evolution of "Why?" by Daniel C. Dennett.
Daniel C. Dennett is an influential philosopher of science. He is a Professor at Tufts University, USA, where he is also the co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies.

Time and place: Daniel C. Dennett: The Evolution of "Why?" Oct 23, 2009 06:00 PM - 08:00 PM , Oslo
Day: Friday 23 October 2009

Dennett has authored several bestselling books, including "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" and "Freedom Evolves". His most recent book is "Breaking the Spell, Religion as a Natural Phenomenon".

Abstract
We human beings are the only living things that can represent, transmit and criticize reasons for doing things and making things. This creates a perspective for us that we can then use to interpret all the rest of the life on the planet, cautiously. Mother Nature's reasons are not just like our reasons. It is our evolved capacity to ask, and answer, Why-questions that gives us, in the end, the kinds of free will worth wanting, the kinds that no other animal has.
http://www.cees.uio.no/darwin/cees/23-october-2009.html

Posted: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 | Permalink

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1. Comment #429309 by clunkclickeverytrip on November 3, 2009 at 8:19 pm

I think this is the talk he gave in Ottawa this year - excellent.

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2. Comment #429316 by alovrin on November 3, 2009 at 8:43 pm

Its great there is a record of this talk.
But Dan's lectures deserve more that an enthusiastic amateur with a handy cam.
At the very least buy a tripod, pleeeze. It'll mean you'll get the camera above the heads of an audience and your arm wont get sore.

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3. Comment #429318 by mbannonb on November 3, 2009 at 8:55 pm

I felt compelled to recreate the image of the termite castle and gaudi's creation found in the video:

http://godlesshollywood.com/gallery/pic.php?id=77

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4. Comment #429332 by esuther on November 3, 2009 at 9:47 pm

"I set out to look like Rasputin...." Ha, good one.

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5. Comment #429342 by Sandra S on November 3, 2009 at 11:16 pm

Dennett was at my own university -- Uppsala University -- roughly a week ago for the Darwin Symposium. I missed the talk myself, but all the talks, including Dan's, was taped and can be found here:

http://media.medfarm.uu.se/flvplayer/darwinsymposium/

Don't worry, they're all in english.

EDIT: I should add that Dan's talk is the same as in the youtube video, but better quality with proper cameras.

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6. Comment #429346 by KRKBAB on November 3, 2009 at 11:34 pm

Comment #429340 - by christianapologetic - just go away- don't apologize, don't preach, and please don't waste anymore of our time and your's- just go away. Thank You, Mr. C.A.

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7. Comment #429349 by Quine on November 4, 2009 at 12:00 am

Dan has now made the meme, "mundify the epigastrium" stick (it even gets hits in Google). This is the first time I have heard him explain where it came from.

P.S. Soon he will have to change it because too many will know it for his demo to continue to be valid.

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8. Comment #429352 by j.mills on November 4, 2009 at 12:31 am

christianapologetic - hey, why not go mundify your epigastrium? Either that, or indicate specifically what's wrong with Dennett's figures, and to such an extent as to cast doubt on his thesis. Continually hiding behind vagaries and condescension is winning you precisely zero respect. Honesty and clarity are what count, if you seriously want to engage in a discussion. (My money's on no you don't.)

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9. Comment #429357 by KRKBAB on November 4, 2009 at 1:52 am

j.mills- Mr C.A. is the latest, greatest hit and run troll on RD.net. Click on his "other comments'. It's obvious he's not inerested (or capable?) of a good discussion.

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10. Comment #429361 by Lucas on November 4, 2009 at 2:51 am

Quine - Mundify the epigastrium? Meaning, roughly, to cleanse the stomach? Or in other words, puke or perhaps mung? That's all I could find. (Had a hard time with the video.)

1 Mundify
Mun'di·fy transitive verb [ Confer French mondifier , Latin mundificare . See Mundificant .] To cleanse. [ Obsolete]
Found on http://www.encyclo.co.uk/webster/M/116

2 Mundify
• (v. t.) To cleanse.
Found on http://thinkexist.com/dictionary/meaning

and

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Epigastrium

The epigastrium (or epigastric region) is the upper central region of the abdomen. It is located between the costal margins and the subcostal plane.

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11. Comment #429362 by effymeral on November 4, 2009 at 3:14 am

Is this similar to the lecture he gave at Stanford recently?

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12. Comment #429364 by Quine on November 4, 2009 at 3:23 am

Comment #429361 by Lucas:

Meaning, roughly, to cleanse the stomach?

Could be, if you are using a strong solvent such as, oh, Bourbon on the rocks, yeah, that's the ticket.

Try starting the video at the 44 min point.

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13. Comment #429374 by Shiva on November 4, 2009 at 6:18 am

Hey!

I was there! This was at Litteraturhuset (The Literature House) in Oslo 23rd of October ;D

I saw a guy with a camcorder there, but I didn't think it would end up on the internet.

It was an ok speech. Good to have finally seen the man live, but they should really do something about the ventilation at Litteraturhuset because there were like 500 people crammed into a tiny auditorium with practically no moving air at all.

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14. Comment #429379 by Communist on November 4, 2009 at 7:43 am

I was there as well! I was happy to see several leading figures from the Norwegian left wing among the audience. The Norwegian left has been infested with postmodernists and so called multiculturalists. Now the tide i finally turning.

Daniel Dennett gave an excellent speech, and I was among those who got the opportunity to briefly thank him personally afterwards.

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15. Comment #429395 by andersemil on November 4, 2009 at 11:42 am

I would have given my right leg to be there had I known he would talk in Oslo... why oh why didn't I?!

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16. Comment #429410 by huyzer on November 4, 2009 at 2:07 pm

Comment #429318 by mbannonb

Thanks for taking the time to put the image together.

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17. Comment #429413 by Lucas on November 4, 2009 at 2:38 pm

Comment #429364 by Quine

Ah ha. Very nice. I think I'll be doing a little mundifying of the epigastrium a little later today, in fact.

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18. Comment #429449 by UncleJJ on November 4, 2009 at 5:08 pm

Fascinating lecture with great material and good questions afterwards. Dan always puts an interesting twist on things. Thanks to the guy who bothered to produce the video but it was poor quality due to his bad position in the audience. Next time, if he reads these comments, I suggest he asks the organisers if he can have a tripod in the aisle.

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19. Comment #429585 by j.mills on November 5, 2009 at 12:17 am

andersemil (#15), as you appear to be an axlotl, 'giving your right leg' is unlikely to cause you great inconvenience, as you could probably grow another! (Although what Dennett would want with your sacrificed limb I don't know. Can it be used to mundify the epigastrium?)

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20. Comment #429595 by SaintStephen on November 5, 2009 at 12:45 am

Is this similar to the lecture he [Dennett] gave at Stanford recently?

What? And no notification on RD.net? Where's my pitiful sobbing emoticon...

EDIT: Does Dennett have a website?

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21. Comment #429601 by Notstrident on November 5, 2009 at 1:28 am

Just for smiles, the discussion of the cuckoo made me recall the lines by Ogden Nash:

Cuckoos lead bohemian lives
They fail as husbands and as wives
Therefore they cynically disparage
Everybody else's marriage

Clearly they are not loving siblings either.

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22. Comment #429622 by christianapologetic on November 5, 2009 at 5:56 am

Ah ha! I see how this website operates now. Instead of deleting my comments that challenge the subject content here you create an "Alternate Comment Thread" and stick my comments there. This way you can create a muddied line between censorship and free speech. Well that's just brilliant. Did Dawkins think of this himself?

Please by all means keep my previous comment on this video on that "alternate" thread. And this one too if you like. I have a very formiddable blog and will be posting a link to this video on it.

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23. Comment #429625 by SaintStephen on November 5, 2009 at 6:20 am

I have a very ~~formiddable~~ formidable blog and will be posting a link to this video on it.

Not that formidable, apparently.

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24. Comment #429628 by Quine on November 5, 2009 at 6:26 am

Comment #429622 by christianapologetic:

Please by all means keep my previous comment on this video on that "alternate" thread.

It will be. You can go through many articles on the site and view the alt threads. The community of posters, here, has supported the idea of keeping comments even if some don't like them.

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