Science and Democracy, a lecture series aimed at exploring both the promised 
benefits or our era's most salient scientific and technological breakthroughs 
and the potentially harmful consequences of developments that are inadequately 
understood, debated, or managed by politicians, lay publics, and policy 
institutions.

David Brooks
Columnist, The New York Times

"Politics, the Brain, & Human Nature"

With Panelists:
Max Bazerman, Straus Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business 
School
David Kennedy, Director, Institute for Global Law and Policy, Harvard Law School
Steven Pinker, Harvard College Professor, Department of Psychology

Moderated by
Sheila Jasanoff, Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies, 
Harvard Kennedy School

Tuesday, April 12
5:00 - 7:00 pm

Piper Auditorium
Gund Hall, GSD
48 Quincy Street
Harvard University

Abstract: For decades we have tried to increase high school graduation rates 
and college completions rates. We've tried to reduce the achievement gaps. 
We've tried to depolarize our economy and moderate the financial cycles. These 
and many other public policy efforts have produced disappointing results. This 
is in part because the policies were based on a partial view of human nature 
and a simplistic view of human capital. Neuroscientific research over the past 
few years has pointed toward a richer view, one in which our emotions and 
unconscious play a far more important role in everyday decision-making. It is 
time to apply the findings of science to the world of policy, morality,  and 
practice.

David Brooks is a columnist for The New York Times and a commentator on PBS 
NewsHour. He has previously worked for the Washington Times, The Wall Street 
Journal, The Weekly Standard, Newsweek, The Atlantic Monthly, and National 
Review. He has authored numerous books of cultural and political commentary, 
the most recent of which, The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, 
Character, and Achievement, was published in March 2011.

This event is organized by the Program on Science, Technology, and Society, at 
the Harvard Kennedy School and co-sponsored by the School of Engineering and 
Applied Sciences, the Graduate School of Design, and the Harvard University 
Center for the Environment.  For more information on Science, Technology, and 
Society events at Harvard University, please visit: 
www.ksg.harvard.edu/sts/<http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/sts/>. This lecture and 
discussion is free and open to the public.

Contact:
Lisa Matthews
Events Coordinator
Harvard University Center for the Environment

24 Oxford Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
p. 617-495-8883
f. 617-496-0425




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