Sherry Turkle discusses the ways in which we are already developing relationships with personal robotic devices from cellphones and iPods to toys like the Furby and My Real Baby.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Tom Lessl conducted a study of the Darwin fish emblem some people slap on their cars. He says that it seems to have little to do with evolution but represents a rejection of fundamentalist Christianity.
Memory is a hot topic in neuroscience, and it turns out the context of our memories is as important as the event itself. Dartmouth neuroscientist Jeremy Manning has found that people can intentionally forget past experiences by changing how they think about the context of their memories.
According to one estimate, the average young person spends about 8 hours a week playing video games. While many parents are worried about all that screen time, there's an emerging body of research that suggests some social and psychological benefits to gaming. And now there's a new generation of educators who want to bring video games into the classroom, not only to make it more fun, but also more effective. Journalist Greg Toppo writes about their efforts in "The Game Believes in You: How Digital Play Can Make Our Kids Smarter."
Steve Paulson reports from Cambridge University in England on Charles Darwin's own views regarding whether his theory of evolution was compatible with religious faith.
Susan Blackmore is a British psychologist who's written books on consciousness, memes and parapsychology. She's also fascinated by what Zen Buddhism can tell us about the mind. In this EXTENDED interview, she says her daily practice of meditation has revealed truths that have eluded the scientific study of consciousness.
“Patchwork Flight” – a story written by TTBOOK listener Rebecca Demarest. Performed by Sara Nics and Nigel O’Shea, with sound design by Britny True.
Rudolph Bell tells Jim Fleming that Italian parents of 500 years ago had some very modern ideas about child rearing. And a few wacky ones about pre-determining the sex of your baby.
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