Duke on Demand

One of the challenges of human life is what's good for us in the long term often doesn't seem good for us right now. Dieting, for example, is not so much fun now, but good for the future; the same goes for saving money or submitting to preventive medical tests. When we face such tradeoffs, we often focus on the short term rather than our long-terms goals, and in the process we get ourselves into trouble. But wait! There is hope. By understanding where we fall short, there are methods we can use to overcome our natural (and less than desirable) inclinations. Using simple experiments, Dan Ariely studies how people actually act in the marketplace, as opposed to how they should or would perform if they were completely rational. His interests span a wide range of daily behaviors and his experiments are consistently interesting, amusing, and informative, demonstrating profound ideas that fly in the face of common wisdom. Dan is the author of the New York Times Bestseller Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions and of The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Ways We Defy Logic at Work and at Home. Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University.

This seminar on technical communication and presentations was prepared and given by Tim Miller of SpokenScience.com. This seminar provides the fundamentals in sharing science as Miller explains how to choose the very best tools to do the job of communication and shares some of the tips and tricks that can help you take your scientific presentations to the next level. Miller led this particular version at Duke University in the summer of 2010.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation through the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Center on Nanostructured Interfaces (DMR-0520527), and the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (DR-0532536 and DRL-0940143).

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This event was cosponsored by Provost Peter Lange, Chancellor Victor J. Dzau, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy, the Center for Philosophy of Biology and the Departments of Biology, Evolutionary Anthropology, and Philosophy.

Richard Dawkins FRS held the first Chair of the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford. He is the author of ten books: The Selfish Gene (1976, 2nd Ed 1989), The Extended Phenotype (1982), The Blind Watchmaker (1986), River Out of Eden (1995), Climbing Mount Improbable (1996), Unweaving the Rainbow (1998), A Devil’s Chaplain (2003), The Ancestor’s Tale (2004), The God Delusion (2006) and The Greatest Show on Earth (2009). Currently, he is working on a children’s book about the beauty of science for publication in the Fall of 2011. The Wall Street Journal said his “passion is supported by an awe-inspiring literary craftsmanship.” The New York Times Book Review has hailed him as a writer who “understands the issues so clearly that he forces his reader to understand them too.”

"Along with providing a fascinating close-up view of cutting edge science, Angrist explores the many thorny questions provoked by genome sequencing, such as whether humans really want to know about their future infirmities, and whether everyone's DNA blueprint should be freely posted on the Internet. A vitally important and timely study of a society-changing technology."
- Booklist

"Angrist artfully uses his personal experiences to introduce readers to the frontiers of genetic knowledge today and its promise for the future." —Kirkus Reviews
(music by Sea Cow)