What is the Meaning of Art? (Part 2)

Welcome to the OSCILLATIONS Podcast, where we invite you to participate in conversations at the intersection of art, culture, technology, and the science of the mind.
There's often a lag between common knowledge and academic knowledge. Sometimes that lag can span decades or even centuries. What the average person might know about the latest ideas in politics. cognitive science, economics, or astrophysics, for example, may in fact be outdated by many years.
The field of psychology is only about a century and a half old, but it's gone through some profound changes. The trajectory of our understanding of human thought and behavior has branched off into many disciplines, some of them more speculative and philosophical. Others more concerned with remedial mental health care and others still taking a scientific approach to understanding how the mind works. It's in this scientific approach where we've made the most progress.
We now have mountains of evidence in cognitive science, neuroscience and certain areas of experimental psychology that collectively portray an increasingly nuanced understanding of how the human mind evolved, how it develops and how it constructs models of the world. We're beginning to make headway on exciting if still hotly debated questions surrounding consciousness selfhood, identity and agency. Most non scientists aren't aware of this progress. But in our modern world, it's nevertheless critically important to understand Keystone ideas of the science of the mind. These ideas have important implications for governance, progress, and many areas of our individual and collective lives.
That's why we recently interviewed Dr. Bruce Hood, an experimental psychologist who makes a great effort to communicate these ideas to a broader audience. Dr. Hood is a professor of developmental psychology in society. His area of research, like Danielle's, focuses on cognitive development. He also participates in many conversations at the intersection of psychology, Technology and Society, including at conferences like Ted RSA and cipher at Google, as well as in interviews for NPR and other major media outlets. He's written several fantastic books for the public that elegantly tackle complex or counterintuitive scientific ideas. These include super sense why we believe the unbelievable the science of superstition, how the developing brain creates supernatural beliefs, the self delusion, how the social brain creates identity, the domesticated brain, and most recently possessed why we want more than we need.
Dr. Hood's work has shaped Danielle's approach to AI research at Google, and her theories on the psychology of art. When she teaches undergraduate courses on cognitive science and developmental psychology, she has her students watch excerpts from his online lectures. The discussions that emerge, such as those on the nature of selfhood are consistently the most engaging topics for her students. Both Brendan and Danielle would also argue that they're among the most important. So with that, OSCILLATIONS brings you Dr. Bruce Hood.
"Art is the signature of civilizations." -Beverly Sills
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