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SUMMARY:Self Euthanasia: Suicide as a Uniquely Human Phenomenon -  Prof. N
 icholas Humphrey\, Darwin College
DTSTART:20171114T131000Z
DTEND:20171114T140000Z
UID:TALK85931@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Arthur Dudney
DESCRIPTION:At some point in evolutionary history\, our ancestors came to 
 understand\, as no animal does\, that death brings to an end a person’s 
 bodily and mental presence in the world. But a potentially devastating con
 sequence was that individuals\, when experiencing physical or mental pain\
 , might deliberately choose this outcome for themselves. Suicide has in fa
 ct become an alarmingly common trait\,  responsible for more deaths today 
 than war and homicide combined. In this talk I shall  ask what this means 
 for human biological fitness. While some suicides are arguably adaptive\, 
 the majority are clearly maladaptive. Nonetheless the trait has been able 
 to take hold because the suicide meme – to which humans have no natural 
 immunity – easily infects vulnerable minds and is highly contagious.
LOCATION:The Richard King Room\, Darwin College
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