19/03/2011 GMT
Are we hard-wired to be hypocrites? What should we call cells taken from a dead animal but kept alive in a lab? And why is the idea of parallel universes gaining ground.
Why are we able to kid ourselves into thinking two opposite things at once?
Psychologist Robert Kurzban argues that it gives us an evolutionary advantage and has to do with the way our brains are constructed, their ‘modular design’.
What if our whole universe is like a single slab in a set of infinite parallel universes? Possibly all very different, possibly near identical copies?
It sounds fantastical, but theoretical physicist Professor Brian Greene says cutting edge research means it’s an option we need to be open to.
Finnish-born artist Oron Catts wants us to contemplate a new world where jackets are grown from engineered leather, not made from an animal but a semi-living biotechnology hide.
Illustration by Emily Kasriel: Multiple selves competing inside our minds as we grow rabbits in parallel universes.
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Chapters
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Robert Kurzban
Why are people blind to their own moral inconsistencies?
Duration: 17:50
SIXTY SECOND IDEA TO CHANGE THE WORLD
Buildings should be grown, not constructed.
Duration: 05:10
Brian Greene
The mathematics behind multiple universes.
Duration: 13:23
Oron Catts
Philosophical questions about semi-living tissue.
Duration: 09:37
Broadcasts
- Sat 19 Mar 2011 22:05GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service Online
- Sun 20 Mar 2011 09:05GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service Online
- Mon 21 Mar 2011 01:05GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service Online
Do you think political or business leaders need to be charismatic? Or do you prefer highly competent but somewhat stern people?
Podcast
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The Forum
The programme that explains the present by exploring the past