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Falling Walls Science Summit 2024: Starting to Unveil This Year's Speakers

24.07.2024 - Article

Scheduled to take place from November 7-9 in Berlin, the Summit offers a wealth of opportunities for engagement, networking, and immersion in groundbreaking science. You are invited to join it in person or virtually for three days filled with thought-provoking speakers and presentations showcasing cutting-edge science.

On November 9, Emilie Caspar, a renowned social and cognitive neuroscientist and Breakthrough Day speaker, will present her research on a critical contemporary issue:

“How Do Authority Figures Manipulate Our Moral Choices?”

In a world where more and more often authoritarian powers violate human rights and restrict freedoms, we are often left to wonder: who obeys their cruel and immoral orders? Why do people even follow commands they know are wrong?

“Historically, the most terrible things – war, genocide, and slavery – have resulted not from disobedience, but from obedience.”

Howard Zinn, American historian, playwright, philosopher, socialist intellectual and World War II veteran

Emilie Caspar is an expert in these dark corners of human behavior. At the Falling Walls Science Summit she will offer a unique look at the biological underpinnings of obedience, shedding light on why we might act against our conscience, what happens in our brains when we obey authority figures and how this knowledge can help us navigate authority in our lives.

The Falling Walls Foundation (http://falling-walls.com/)

Emilie Caspar on X (https://x.com/CasparEmilie)

Book recommendation: Just Following Orders - Atrocities and the Brain Science of Obedience; Emilie A. Caspar, Universiteit Gent, Belgium. PUBLICATION PLANNED FOR: August 2024

The Moral and Social Brain Lab (https://moralsocialbrain.com/)

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