Dexter Dias (OS 1981):
Why Humans Hurt Each Other
Human rights lawyer Dexter Dias gave an illuminating
talk to an assembly of students, staff and parents.
Mr Dias shared stories of people struggling against
the horrific brutality of genital mutilation in certain
countries. He also spoke passionately about his
experiences as a barrister and judge, explaining his
involvement in cases of merciless homicides and
unfortunate accidents, such as one which left a
woman with control of only her left eye.
However, most importantly, through these cases,
Mr Dias highlighted the resilient nature of humans, as
well as the hope that comes from struggle, suggesting
that he is motivated by a seemingly intrinsic human
desire for justice.
Stacy Stepanova, Upper Sixth
Dr Hannah Critchlow:
Consciousness
86 billion dendrites allows each of us to have a very
different ‘circuit board’, with connections breaking
and being rewired every moment of our lives. The
sheer magnitude of the brain’s wiring, it seems, is not
only specific to us. There is increasing evidence that
both animals and plants are more conscious than
we believe, with rats that giggle at the idea of being
tickled and trees which chemically warn others when
a giraffe approaches.
The definition of consciousness will only get more
complicated as our technology advances. Once our
circuit boards are complicated enough, will we be
able to project our consciousness onto robots? What
implications will there be as AI evolves? Whatever
the answer, the audience left the hall a little more
conscious of the brains and minds around them.
Carrie Shi, Lower Sixth
Sue Prideaux
We were delighted to welcome Sue Prideaux to speak
on Friedrich Nietzsche.
Dr Hannah Critchlow, neuroscientist and Science
Outreach Fellow at Magdalene College, Cambridge,
and co-presenter of the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World Live
series, gave a fascinating talk about consciousness –
the subject and title of her recent book, published as
part of the Ladybird Expert series.
Author of I Am Dynamite! A Life of Nietzsche, a new
revisionist biography of the influential philosopher,
Prideaux gave a powerful and enlightening talk. I was
fascinated to hear of a striking event in Nietzsche’s
life, when he dreamed about his brother’s death
shortly before his brother died from a seizure.
This mystical experience was to haunt Nietzsche
She told an audience of students, staff and members
of the local community about exciting recent research throughout his life and helps explain his drive to
understand and solve the problems of the human
that has overthrown the longstanding belief that
condition.
humans cannot generate new brain cells – and has
shown a strong link between running and increased
Prideaux also showed the importance of Nietzsche’s
cell generation. A keen runner herself, Hannah
aphoristic style in achieving his philosophical goals.
reported with glee that the towpath in Cambridge is
As she pointed out, ‘There is no such thing as
now full of jogging neuroscientists.
Nietzscheism,’ because Nietzsche wants us to think
for ourselves, not to follow him. After this enlightening
Consciousness has long been a mind-boggling topic
talk, I have been compelled to reopen my copy of
in many areas from psychology to neuroscience to
Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morality with fresh eyes, so
philosophy, and each holds a different perspective.
I might better understand Nietzsche’s thought with
To Dr Critchlow, consciousness is the ability to form
his personal and historical context in mind.
a unique view of something; after all, the 10,000
connections made by every one of the brain’s
Matthew Sebastian, Upper Sixth
SEVENOAKS SCHOOL 2018-2019
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