World Affairs Center
312 Sutter St
415.293.4600
This event has passed.
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Barbara Oakley, Evil Genes
- When
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Friday June 27, 2008 (6pm)
- Where
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- Price
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$10
- Links
Could the horrendous acts perpetuated by Adolf Hitler or Josef Stalin be traced back to something as fundamental as variations in brain functioning? Barbara Oakely hunts for the genetic imprint of our moral compass in her new book Evil Genes, suggesting that recent breakthroughs in neuroscience might shed light on the "why" behind Nietzsche's assertion that man is the cruelest animal. Going beyond history's worst criminals, Oakley also examines cases of deceit and petty sadism from business, politics, and everyday life to expose how we might be more hardwired to do wrong than we'd like to believe.
