http://www.counterpoint-online.org Counterpoint is the think tank of the British Council http://www.counterpoint-online.org/counterpoint-and-prospect-magazine-talk-neuroscience-public-policy-and-culture/ Counterpoint collaborated with Prospect magazine to produce a special supplement in the March 2010 issue of Prospect dedicated to investigating how advances in neuroscience are changing how we think about ourselves and our relationships with others. It is increasingly clear that neuroscience is providing radical new interpretations of how we learn to be, to play, to relate, and to learn. At the same time we need to get past the hardwired vs softwired binary to realise that productive future work will come through a combination of neuroscience's research, and cultural study. http://www.counterpoint-online.org/the-problem-of-other-minds/ The work of Rebacca Saxe, which she describes in this fascinating TED talk, is a good example of how neuroscience is revolutionising how we think about being human and the human social sphere. Saxe is a cognitive neuroscientist who, while still a graduate student, made the breakthrough discovery that: “There is a region in the human brain, in your brains, whose job it is to think about other people’s thoughts.” She now researches the region of the brain that she discovered, at MIT’s Saxelab, exploring how human minds interact. http://www.counterpoint-online.org/counterpoint-podcast-series/ The Counterpoint podcast series brings leading thinkers and practitioners from a wide array of fields to discuss some of the most important issues in cultural relations today. An archive of all our podcasts and interviews can be found here. http://www.counterpoint-online.org/a-hall-interview/ http://www.counterpoint-online.org/henrietta-moore-talks-to-counterpoint/ Henrietta Moore discusses her views on how anthropologists can best understand different cultures. What are the potential benefits and limitations of cultural relativism? And what is the impact of culture and technology on individual identity? http://www.counterpoint-online.org/whats-on-your-mind/ http://www.counterpoint-online.org/an-interview-with-alain-de-botton/ Alain de Botton speaks to Counterpoint about the connection between cultural context and individual identity. How do people define themselves in different societies? In an increasingly globalised world, do we feel the same need to belong? And why is elite culture so adverse to the idea of individual self-improvement? http://www.counterpoint-online.org/understanding-ourselves-understanding-cultures-the-value-of-psychoanalysis/ Cultural differences in individual identity can underpin the divides we cannot bridge. A psychoanalytic awareness lets us acknowledge the importance of these differences, and provides some of the tools we need to understand them. http://www.counterpoint-online.org/slavoj-zizek-%e2%80%93-apocalyptic-times/ Slavoj Zizek discusses the impact of technology on identity. http://www.counterpoint-online.org/identity-at-the-wellcome-collection/ An excellent exhibition on identity