Date/Time: Wednesday 6 March 2024, 5.30pm

Venue: Curtis Auditorium, Herschel Building, Newcastle University

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All our events remain free and open to all, but pre-booking is required. Bookings for this lecture will open at 10.00am on 28 February. To reserve your place click the booking link below or telephone our booking voicemail line 0191 208 6136.

Many new technologies spread so broadly and deeply that they are difficult to uproot once their negative impacts are better understood. How, then, might we estimate which technological innovations are likely to spread relatively quickly and become deeply entrenched in human lives? The cognitive science of religion has enabled us to better understand why some forms of cultural expression are attractive to individuals and groups. Psychological ‘naturalness’ leads to cultural attractiveness, helping innovations to spread broadly and deeply.

Biography

Justin L. Barrett is President of Blueprint 1543 and honorary Professor of Theology and the Sciences at St Andrews University’s School of Divinity. Barrett previously taught in Fuller Theological Seminary’s School of Psychology, in the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at Oxford University, at the University of Michigan, and at Calvin University. He is author or editor of over 100 scholarly publications. Much of his work concerns scientific approaches to the study of religious thought and its philosophical and theological implications. Science-informed perspectives on human nature and purpose is another of his scholarly concerns. Examples of Barrett’s books are: Why Would Anyone Believe in God? (2004), Cognitive Science, Religion, and Theology: From Human Minds to Divine Minds (2011), Born Believers: The Science of Childhood Religion (2012), and Thriving with Stone Aged Minds: Evolutionary Psychology, Christian Faith, and the Quest for Human Flourishing (with Pamela King, InterVarsity Academic, 2021).

The second part of the Riddell Lectures, From AI to social media: Natural psychological reactions as a guide to tech-prudence will be held on Thursday 7 March.