Science, Scientists, Ideas

"THE OTHER MIND" GODFRY-SMITH PETER Peter Godfrey-Smith (born 1965) — an Australian marine biologist and philosopher of science, professor at the University of Sydney. His bestseller "Other Minds" has created a true revolution in our understanding of cephalopods: according to the author, these animals represent "an alternative experiment in evolution to create a highly developed intelligence." The author, an experienced diver who constantly observes octopuses and cuttlefish in their natural habitat, is convinced that these organisms, infinitely distant from us, demonstrate outstanding cognitive abilities and an astonishingly high level of mental complexity. "THE MORAL ANIMAL" WRIGHT ROBERT A human is an animal endowed with reason — this fact is hard to dispute. At the same time, it is generally believed that in civilized society, the rational element prevails over the animal one. But is this really the case? What is human morality, which has undergone radical changes over many centuries? How are altruism and the struggle for survival, the sexual revolution and Darwin's theory of evolution connected? Honor, conscience, friendship, nobility — is it all just words behind which lies a bare instinct? Analyzing these questions and cleverly using the biography of Charles Darwin and his "On the Origin of Species" and the famous work of Frans de Waal "Politics Among Chimpanzees" as examples, Robert Wright comes to some very curious conclusions... "THE GENETICS OF GENIUS" EPHROIMSON VLADIMIR PAVLOVICH High mental activity, especially in its most vivid manifestation — genius, has attracted human attention for millennia. Countless works and biographical studies are devoted to genius and geniuses, but almost all of them consider genius as something irrational, eluding analysis and explanation. Having studied and summarized an enormous amount of biographical data and research in history, psychology, and medicine, Vladimir Ephroimson attempted to identify the mechanisms that stimulate intellect, sources of exceptional talent, and conditions in which this talent manifests and reveals itself in full. Based on his analysis, he concluded the existence of gigantic reserve capacities of the brain of an ordinary, non-genius person and outlined ways that, in his opinion, could put the "production" of geniuses on stream and allow humanity to reach a qualitatively new level of intellectual and spiritual development.