Thursday, October 22, 2020

The Scientific Case Against Racism

11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Hosts

Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Medical School
David Linden, Ph.D.
Professor of Neuroscience
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
David Linden, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His laboratory has worked for many years on the cellular basis of memory storage, recovery of function after brain injury and a few other topics. He has a longstanding interest in scientific communication and served for many years as the chief editor of the Journal of Neurophysiology. He is the author of three bestselling books on the biology of behavior: The Accidental Mind (2007), The Compass of Pleasure (2011) and Touch: The Science of Hand, Heart and Mind (2015) which, to date, have been translated into 19 languages. Most recently, he edited a collection of short essays on brain function written for a general audience: Think Tank: Forty Neuroscientists Explore the Biological Roots of Human Experience (2018). His has appeared on the TED Radio Hour, Fresh Air with Terry Gross and many other media outlets. His next book, Unique: The Science of Human Individuality will be published by Basic books on September 29, 2020.
Neuroscientist and author David Linden will discuss some of the findings from his new book, Unique: The Science of Human Individuality, which explores the origins and importance of human individuality.
 
It is surprising that, with all of the ongoing examination of racism in general and anti-Blackness in particular, the compelling scientific case against racism has not been part of the discussion. This is a problem even people who are not overtly racist have imagined a scientific basis for certain racial myths and stereotypes. This talk will examine the assertions and assumptions of racist pseudoscience and show how contemporary genetics and neuroscience refute them.