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Is the brain just a computer made of flesh? What does neuroscience say about who I am?
Where:
Venue: Main Common Room, New College, UNSW. The New College entrance is at 330 Anzac Pde, Kensington.
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Resources from this lecture are available here.
For resource material for many past lectures, go to the link: https://iscast.org/resourcepage, then click on ISCAST Presentations and click on the appropriate lectures listed or else go straight to the ISCAST Home page (www.ISCAST.org), and, for example, search through the list of recent lectures.
RSVPs to (Em. Prof) Peter Barry [email: p.barry@unsw.edu.au] would be much appreciated, but are not mandatory. There will also be some light refreshments after the lecture. For further information, contact Peter by email or by mobile on 0419 243 685. RSVPs are also helpful for people coming to the lecture if we need to advise you of any new information about the event.
Lecture Title: “Is the brain just a computer made of flesh? What does neuroscience say about who I am?”
Date and time: Tuesday 23rd May at 7.30 pm
Speaker: Associate Professor Alan Gijsbers, MBBS, FRACP, FAChAM, DTM&H, PGDip Epi
Venue: Main Common Room, New College, UNSW, (H6; New College-UNSW Map) The New College entrance is at 330 Anzac Pde, Kensington.
Cost: Donations of $15 ($5 for students and $10 for pensioners) towards lecture and other costs would be much appreciated.
RSVPs to (Em. Prof) Peter Barry [email: p.barry@unsw.edu.au] would be much appreciated, but are not mandatory. There will also be some light refreshments after the lecture. For further information, contact Peter by email or by mobile on 0419 243 685. RSVPs are also helpful for people coming to the lecture if we need to advise you of any new information about the event.
Parking is available on nearby suburban streets or in the Western Campus Carpark (G2) between the New College Village (H3) and NIDA (E2), which is free after 6.30 pm and is normally accessed via Day Ave (see New College-UNSW Map ).
However, going South on Anzac Pde. it is no longer possible to turn right into Day Ave, so it is better if going South (see Kensington Map), to either turn earlier at Todman Ave Traffic Lights (not shown), the ones before the Doncaster Ave. Traffic Lights (where you cannot turn right) and make your way by back streets to Day Ave to access the Western Campus carpark via the Western Campus Drive (see both maps), or to go further on Anzac Pde. to the Barker St Traffic Lights (TL), where you can turn right, and from Barker St then turn right into Houston Rd to go on to Day Ave and on to the Western Campus Carpark drive (Kensington map).
Please also check the ISCAST link https://iscast.org/node/291, closer to the date of the lecture for any additional lecture information or further traffic changes in this area, due to the South East Light Rail construction.
Abstract: The idea that a human is hardware made of flesh and the essence of the person, sometimes called the soul, is the software, is superficially attractive. But is this a fair analogy, or are the differences between humans and computers too great to accept that analogy? I will look at how neuroscience describes humans and how we understand those attributes that make us human – our emotions, our reasoning, our subjectivity, our sense of self and our relationships. How do we understand ourselves? Humans are storied animals and our stories shape our own personal understanding and the understanding of our community. We will look at the impact of the fundamental Christian story on who we are and what our hopes will be.
Biosketch: Alan is a specialist physician in Addiction Medicine, and an Honorary Clinical Associate Professor with the Department of Medicine Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne. He is the first Head of the Addiction Medicine Service at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the first Medical Director of the Substance Withdrawal Unit at the Melbourne Clinic Richmond.
He is a Foundation Fellow in the chapter of Addiction Medicine of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. He is past chairman of the Victorian Addiction Inter-hospital Liaison Association (VAILA)
Science/Faith interests
Alan is the National President of ISCAST, a group of Christians interested in the interaction between science and religion. He has lectured in Science and Faith at Ridley College and the Bible College of Victoria. He is a past chairman of the Christian Medical and Dental Fellowship of Australia.
He is also the past National President of Health Serve Australia, an organization of health professionals who seek to provide health and development overseas in the name and spirit of Christ.
Alan is interested in spirituality, addiction, Evidence Based Medicine, scientific methodology and neuroscience. He has published in neuroscience and theology, including: models of mind-brain relationships; understanding self and anthropology; understanding consciousness; the nature of the will; the nature of soul and spirit; monism and dualism; and neurodevelopment and the relation of the emotions to human functioning, and spirituality and addictions, especially as they are expressed in a secular society. Each provides fruitful areas of interaction between science, philosophy and theology, especially as it applies practically in the field of Addiction Medicine.
*ISCAST – https://iscast.org; **CASE – http://case.edu.au/