Is it possible to know ourselves?

Speaker: Trevor Rollings

Since ancient times, ‘Know thyself’ has been a spiritual and philosophical mantra.

The self is not however a fixed entity and, according to modern neuroscience, may even be an hallucination of the brain.

Trevor’s talk Is it possible to know ourselves? will approach the conundrum of self-knowledge from a variety of perspectives: historical, religious, metaphysical, linguistic, evolutionary, psychological and neuroscientific.

Prove that your self really exists by bringing it to this talk and explore whether you are more than a ghost in the machine!

Trevor read English at Cambridge University and then taught the subject for nearly forty years in three different countries. Halfway through his career he took a ‘philosophic turn’, from teaching literature to teaching linguistics, which alerted him to how the brain processes information of all kinds.

Twenty years later, on his retirement, he began a series of books called ‘Empires of the Mind’, unified by the theme of how the mind works. All these books are listed with excerpts on his website trevorrollings.com.

He is currently writing the final draft of his latest book ‘A Mind is Born: Adventures in being human’. He has lectured on various topics in Britain and Australia and now lives in Mullumbimby with his family and is looking forward to sharing his ideas with Byron Philo Café.

Cost is $10. Send an email to peter.gough1@gmail.com and Peter will give you the banking details. You must provide your name in the bank transfer details.

Food is available at the club along with drinks of course. Many people come early to eat and socialise before the meeting. You are allowed to take meals and drinks into the Anzac Room.

Roger, Peter & Christine