BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Major Transitions in Evolution: When’s the Next One?  - Dr. Kit 
 Opie (Bristol)
DTSTART:20181031T163000Z
DTEND:20181031T173000Z
UID:TALK111358@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Laura van Holstein
DESCRIPTION:Two evolutionary biologists\,  John Maynard Smith and Eors Sza
 thmary\, identified eight major evolutionary transitions in the way inform
 ation is stored and transmitted since life on Earth began\, nearly 4 billi
 on years ago. From the common features of these transitions\, the last of 
 which was the evolution of human society and language\, they argue that tw
 o human inventions rank as major transitions too. Writing\, invented five 
 thousand years ago\, brought about large scale human societies. Computer t
 echnology is driving the current transition and the changes that it is bri
 nging are every bit as transformative as the previous ones. Their work rai
 ses a number of questions. First\, does the Major Transitions framework st
 and up after 20 years of further research? Second\, if so\, can we test th
 e applicability of the common features of the transitions to the invention
  of writing and its impact on human societies? Third\, is it possible to u
 se the transition features to start to make some predictions about the imp
 act that computer technology may now be having on human society\, culture 
 and cognition? If these questions receive positive answers\, the transitio
 n features\, derived from evolutionary biology\, could begin to make sense
  of the political upheavals of recent times\, but mre importantly\, could 
 act as a guide to the changes in human society and culture we can expect o
 ver the decades to come.\n
LOCATION:Seminar Room\, Henry Wellcome Building\, Division of Biological A
 nthropology\, Fitzwilliam Street\, Cambridge\, CB2 3QG
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR