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Understanding Intelligence: From Social Science to Computer Science

Laura Dahl
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Flickr

How do we define intelligence? Where does it come from, and what roles do genetics and environment play in its development? We live in a world that values different types of intelligence subjectively -- and we watch as those values shift in accordance with changing cultural attitudes. 

We see too how every day brings us closer to an artificial form of intelligence. For something we all have, and rely on every day for, well, everything; we have yet to definitively answer some of the most basic questions about it. This hour, we speak with cognitive, social, and computer scientists about the nature of intelligence.

GUESTS:

  • Richard Nisbett - Professor of Social Psychology and Co-director of the Culture and Cognition Program at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor; author of Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking
  • Annie Murphy Paul - Writer, consultant, and speaker on the topic of learning; author of The Brilliant Blog and the forthcoming book, Thinking Outside the Brain: The Power of Our Surroundings to Make Us Smarter
  • George Dvorsky - A leading bio-ethicist, futurist and trans-humanist; writer for Gizmodo

MUSIC:

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Chion Wolf and Colin McEnroe contributed to this show.

Josh was a producer for WNPR's talk shows. He has produced for Where We Live and was a producer for The Colin McEnroe Show until 2020.

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