The Genealogy of Genius
- Location: Soho House, Torstraße 1, 10119 Berlin, Germany, +49 30 4050440
- Date: 13.02.18 | 7:30pm
- Book Now: Please note that this is a members only event – contact nick@arcadia.education or antoine.remise@sohohouse.com
Given the fervour surrounding the recent TV series ‘Genius’ on the National Geographic Channel which premiered mid-2017, this illustrated talk investigates the interaction between the brain and nervous system within the realm of the Arts. Perception and memory are often keyways to creativity in painting, music and literature. This is subject to a unique wiring of the right and left hemispheres of the brain, which allows access to reserves of creativity in the prefrontal cortex in particular. A treatise on the ‘Genetic Studies of Genius’ by Lewis Terman provided a rationale for genius by tracing lineage. More recently this culminated in ‘The Leonardo Project’ aimed at tracing genealogy in the consummate Renaissance Man. In tracking down da Vinci’s DNA and scrutinising his genetic make-up, specialists intend to replicate or clone his posthumous precocity. David Eagleman’s seminal text of October 2017 ‘The Runaway Species’ attempts to define how human creativity remakes the world, serving as the basis for a recent Science Festival debate. Autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire and blind autistic savant jazz pianist Derek Paravicini make for fascinating paradigms in investigating the phenomenon of genius. What is the ‘Mozart effect’ or Musicolepsia? How does Autism Spectrum manifest itself? And where are we now in terms of Artificial Intelligence, as we teach robots motor-control skills? Come and find out and enjoy the debate!
Please note that as this is a members only event for Soho House members, please contact Nick Nelson for a limited number of non-members tickets