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SUMMARY:Weaponized Lies: An American neuroscientist speaks on the post-tru
 th era (and what we can do about it) -  Daniel J\, Levitin PhD\, Minerva S
 chools at Keck Graduate Institute and University of California at Berkeley
DTSTART:20170127T163000Z
DTEND:20170127T180000Z
UID:TALK69968@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Louise White
DESCRIPTION:Abstract\nThe language we use has begun to obscure the relatio
 nship between facts and fantasy. “Fake news” is too gentle a euphemism
  for what it is: lies. \nThis is a dangerous byproduct of a lack of educat
 ion in the U.S. (and\, I’m sad to say\, many other countries) that has n
 ow affected an entire generation of citizens.  Lies now proliferate in our
  culture to an unprecedented degree.  It has made possible the weaponizing
  of lies so that they can all the more perniciously undermine our ability 
 to make good decisions for ourselves and for our fellow citizens. A U.S. g
 overnment survey found that more than one in five Americans could not loca
 te information in text\, or make low-level inferences from printed materia
 ls. In this talk\, I will provide a brief overview of the problem\, and sh
 are examples of distortions\, misleading charts and false claims. By way o
 f these examples\, I outline an educational defense against information il
 literacy and the absurd notion that we live in a “post-truth” era.\n\n
 Bio\nDaniel J. Levitin is a cognitive neuroscientist and best-selling auth
 or. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon under Michael Posn
 er\, and completed post-doctoral training in neuroimaging at Stanford Univ
 ersity Medical School with Allan Reiss\, and in visual perception at UC Be
 rkeley with Stephen Palmer. He is James McGill Professor Emeritus of Psych
 ology and Neuroscience at McGill University\, where he holds affiliate app
 ointments in Computer Science\, Education\, and Music. He is the Founding 
 Dean of Arts & Humanities at the Minerva Schools at KGI (Keck Graduate Ins
 titute) in San Francisco\, a new\, accredited undergraduate program that e
 mphasizes critical thinking and communication skills for the next generati
 on of leaders and innovators. He is also Distinguished Faculty Fellow at t
 he Haas School of Business\, UC Berkeley. He is the author of four consecu
 tive #1 bestselling books\, including This Is Your Brain on Music and The 
 Organized Mind. Prior to entering academia\, he worked as a record produce
 r in California\, earning 14 gold and platinum records for sales in excess
  of 30 million records.\n\n
LOCATION:Anatomy Lecture Theatre\, Anatomy Building\, Department of Physio
 logy\, Development and Neuroscience
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