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X-WR-CALNAME;VALUE=TEXT:MBB Distinguished Lecture: Michael Shadlen, MD, PhD
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SUMMARY:MBB Distinguished Lecture: Michael Shadlen, MD, PhD
DESCRIPTION:<p>	<span><span><span style="text-transform:uppercase"><strong>Consciousness and free will viewed through the lens of decision making</strong> </span></span></span><br><span><span>4:00 pm, December 7<sup>th</sup>, 2022</span></span></p><p>	<span><span>Building on the foundation of the previous lecture, I will shape the window on cognition into a lens through which seemingly elusive problems may be rendered conspicuous. I will present experimental evidence that the transition from non-conscious mental processing to conscious awareness is, in essence, a decision. The experiment uses Libet’s mental chronometry, so it also touches on the topic of free will and responsibility. I will expand on the intentional—as opposed to representational—framework for the brain’s computational architecture, introduced in Lecture 1, to sketch a view of knowledge and phenomenology as affordance, focusing mainly on the parietal cortex. All experiences afford the possibility of reporting to another agent—or to oneself in the future. I will explain why this special “reporting affordance” brings consciousness into focus. </span></span></p><p>	 </p>
LOCATION:B1 William James Hall
STATUS:CONFIRMED
DTSTART:20221207T210000Z
DTEND:20221207T221500Z
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