Homo Techno
“Homo Techno” features stories—including that of a paralyzed former gang member who received brain implants allowing him to move a robotic arm by pure thought—that prompt Lightman to think about how advances in science and technology are causing us to evolve into a new species, Homo Techno, part human and part machine. What essential qualities will we want to preserve? Curiosity? Anger? Love?
Episodes
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Homo Techno
S1 E103 - 56m 45s
“Homo Techno” features stories—including that of a paralyzed former gang member who received brain implants allowing him to move a robotic arm by pure thought—that prompt Lightman to think about how advances in science and technology are causing us to evolve into a new species, Homo Techno, part human and part machine. What essential qualities will we want to preserve? Curiosity? Anger? Love?
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The Big & The Small
S1 E102 - 56m 45s
“The Big & The Small” dramatizes the fact that humans are almost exactly the same distance—in terms of powers of ten—between an atom and a star. But where do we fit in the moral universe? Alan Lightman speaks with an advanced android and then a rabbi, a bio-ethicist, and the Dalai Lama about whether such a being could achieve consciousness and whether we could unplug her without asking permission.
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The Stars & The Osprey
S1 E101 - 56m 44s
“The Stars & The Osprey” begins with Alan Lightman's late-night experience alone on the ocean when he felt connected to the stars and ends with a memorable eye-to-eye encounter with a wild creature. Alan attempts to reconcile these transcendent experiences with the material world of atoms and molecules. Can science explain such experiences in terms of the brain? Are humans nothing but matter?
Schedule
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Image
Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science
The Stars & The Osprey
Tuesday
Dec 31
1 Hour
Alan Lightman tries to reconcile an experience where he felt connected to stars and an encounter with a wild creature with the material world of atoms and molecules. -
Image
Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science
The Big & The Small
Tuesday
Dec 31
1 Hour
Where humans fit in the moral universe. -
Image
Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science
Homo Techno
Tuesday
Dec 31
1 Hour
How advances in science and technology cause people to evolve into a new species -- part human, part machine. -
Image
Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science
The Stars & The Osprey
Wednesday
Jan 1
1 Hour
Alan Lightman tries to reconcile an experience where he felt connected to stars and an encounter with a wild creature with the material world of atoms and molecules. -
Image
Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science
The Big & The Small
Wednesday
Jan 1
1 Hour
Where humans fit in the moral universe. -
Image
Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science
Homo Techno
Wednesday
Jan 1
1 Hour
How advances in science and technology cause people to evolve into a new species -- part human, part machine. -
Image
Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science
The Stars & The Osprey
Wednesday
Jan 1
1 Hour
Alan Lightman tries to reconcile an experience where he felt connected to stars and an encounter with a wild creature with the material world of atoms and molecules. -
Image
Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science
The Big & The Small
Wednesday
Jan 1
1 Hour
Where humans fit in the moral universe. -
Image
Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science
Homo Techno
Wednesday
Jan 1
1 Hour
How advances in science and technology cause people to evolve into a new species -- part human, part machine.
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