Building Social Worlds: How Minds Shapes Societies and Societies Shape Minds, 14.10.2024

27.09.2024

Organisational team of five of our doctoral candidates have invited a speaker, Professor Alex Thornto of Cognitive Evolution at the Human Biological and Cultural Evolution group at the University of Exeter, for a public lecture at our University. His research group focuses on how challenges faced by animals (including humans) in their natural environments shape their mental processes, how the ability to learn from others affects the behavior of individuals and groups, and how culture itself evolves.

In the lecture it will be discussed how social structures shape congitive abilities in animals such as primates, dolphins and corvids. It will examine how these species use social information within their environment and how their decisions impact social dynamics. For understanding social and cognitive evolution, two things need to be considered: how societies shape minds and how minds give rise to societies. 

If you are interested in this topic, the lecture is open to all VDS CoBeNe PhD candidates.
It will take place at the UBB, seminar room 5.1 and via Zoom. Please click on the pdf to find the Zoom link.