MHRC Research Seminar: Why Intelligent People Do Unnatural Things

Enjoy free admission, all are welcome.

* Seats are limited and will be allocated on a 'first in, first served' basis.
* Online link will be provided if the seats are full.
* Please note that NO Physiotherapy (PT) and Occupational Therapy (OT) CPD points will be offered by the research seminar.

Topic
Why Intelligent People Do Unnatural Things

Abstract
It is commonly, and unquestioningly, believed that intelligence is an unqualifiedly and universally positive trait. In this talk, Dr Kanazawa will challenge this common assumption and demonstrate that intelligent people are, in fact, stupid. Because general intelligence evolved to solve evolutionarily novel problems, more intelligent individuals today are more likely to acquire and espouse evolutionarily novel preferences and values that our ancestors did not possess. This is why more intelligent people today are more likely to: be politically liberal in the United States; be an atheist; value sexual exclusivity (but only if they are male); be nocturnal night owls; listen to classical music; drink alcohol (and engage in binge drinking and get drunk); use psychoactive drugs; and have no children. Intelligent women are more likely to fail at the most important task in life. Note:  There will be a quiz at the end of the talk.

Speaker
Dr Satoshi Kanazawa
Reader in Management
Fellow, Society of Experimental Social Psychology
Department of Management
London School of Economics and Political Science
United Kingdom

Biography
Dr Satoshi Kanazawa, Reader in Management at the London School of Economics and Political Science, is an evolutionary psychologist and intelligence researcher.  An elected Fellow of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, he has published over 140 peer-reviewed scientific articles and book chapters in all of the social sciences (psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and anthropology) as well as in biology, medicine, epidemiology, gerontology, demography, and criminology.  His academic work has been widely featured in the popular press, including, among others, CNN, NBC News, CBS News, Nature News, the Washington Post (in 2006 and 2016), Time (in 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2015), National Geographic, the Economist, the Globe and Mail, and Medical Daily.  Both his 2003 article “Why Productivity Fades with Age:  The Crime-Genius Connection” and his 2010 article “Why Liberals and Atheists Are More Intelligent” have received worldwide media coverage, the latter with the combined worldwide viewership of 400 million people (estimated by Meltwater News).  He has appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered in 2003 and Fox News Channel’s Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld on 2010.  He is the author of The Intelligence Paradox:  Why the Intelligent Choice Isn’t Always the Smart One (Wiley, 2012) and coauthor (with Alan S. Miller) of Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters (Penguin, 2007).  The latter book has sold over 32,000 copies and has been translated into 12 languages, including Simplified Chinese in 2010 (生猛的进化心理学) and Traditional Chinese in 2008 (為什麼美女總是生女兒？).  His LSE home page is http://personal.lse.ac.uk/Kanazawa