Robert Kurzban: Why Everyone (Else) is a Hypocrite: Evolution & the Modular Mind

Dr. Robert Kurzban, Ph.D. is the author of the new book, “Why Everyone (Else) is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind”. His book explores human inconsistency, including hypocrisy, from an evolutionary perspective, with an emphasis on how modularity helps to explain various features of human behavior, including "self deception," "self control," "self esteem," and other aspects of social behavior. It is published by Princeton University Press and is available on Amazon.com.

This lecture is sponsored by Dr. Michael Shermer's Skeptics Society: (http://www.skeptic.com/upcoming-lectures/evolution-and-the-modular-mind/) http://www.skeptic.com/upcoming-lectures/evolution-and-the-modular-mind/

“WE’RE ALL HYPOCRITES. Why? Evolutionary psychologist Robert Kurzban shows us that the key to understanding our behavioral inconsistencies lies in understanding the mind’s design. The human mind consists of many specialized units designed by natural selection. While these modules sometimes work together seamlessly, they don’t always, resulting in impossibly contradictory beliefs, vacillations between patience and impulsiveness, violations of our supposed moral principles, and overinflated views of ourselves. This modular view of the mind undermines deeply held intuitions about ourselves. Modularity suggests that there is no “I.” Instead, each of us is a contentious “we” — a collection of discrete but interacting systems whose constant conflicts shape our interactions with one another and our experience of the world.“

Robert Kurzban, Ph.D. is considered a rising star in evolutionary psychology. He conducted his graduate studies at UCSB under John Tooby and Leda Cosmides who are considered the founders of evolutionary psychology. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the Psychology Department. He founded the Penn Laboratory for Experimental Evolutionary Psychology (PLEEP), in 2003 which draws on theory and methods from evolutionary psychology, experimental economics, and cognitive psychology, with occasional forays into cross-cultural psychology and neuroscience. Research in the lab is focused on the array of specialized cognitive mechanisms designed to navigate a complex social world.

Dr. Kurzban has published dozens of journal articles on a wide array of topics, including morality, cooperation, friendship, mate choice, supernatural beliefs, modularity, self-control, and other topics. He received his PhD at the University of California Santa Barbara at the Center for Evolutionary Psychology in 1998, and received postdoctoral training at Caltech in the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, UCLA Anthropology, and the University of Arizona’s Economic Science Laboratory with Vernon Smith. In 2008, he won the inaugural Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution from the Human Behavior and Evolution Society

http://www.frontiersin.org/people/robertkurzban/8420 http://www.psychologytoday.com/node/49341

For a reviews on some of Dr. Kurzban’s articles: http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Talk:Evolutionary_psychology

Tickets:

First come, first served at the door. Seating is limited.

$10 for nonmembers

$8 for Skeptics Society members and the JPL/Caltech community

Your admission fee is a donation that pays for lecture expenses.

Location and Parking Map:

Baxter Hall at CalTech in Pasadena. Parking is free on weekends.

http://www.skeptic.com/downloads/map-BaxterHa ll.pdf

Be sure to come early to allow for parking and purchase of tickets as there is limited seating.