Nerd Nite Liberia: November 14, 2013
Please joins us on Thursday, November 14th at FuZion d’afrique for the 14th edition of Nerd Nite Liberia!
Presentations include:
God, Drugs, and Evolution – By Alveena Shah
And
Can Behavioral Economics Inform Public Policy? –- By Raj Singh
And
Don’t Go To Lebanon—By Ali Fakih
More info about the presentations and presenters:
God, Drugs, and Evolution – By Alveena Shah
Religious belief and behavior are uniquely human and found in all cultures. In spite of being an integral part of daily life for billions of people, religion was largely ignored by neuroscientists until recently. Neuroscientists are trying to find answers to some basic but fascinating questions: How is knowledge of God represented in the mind? What does a brain look like when having an intense spiritual experience? What other human experiences mirror those experiences (hint: see presentation title)? I’ll end with a discussion of the contributions of brain research to a theory of evolution of religious beliefs.
Alveena is a kindergarten teacher, which is why she has a hard time talking to adults. She is also the Monitoring and Evaluation Fellow at More Than Me. In one of her past lives, she worked in a laboratory of evolutionary neurobehavior. In the life before that, she is guessing she was some species of lemur.
Can Behavioral Economics Inform Public Policy? –- By Raj Singh
A prime assumption for standard economic theory is that individuals make rational choices however; we are known to make irrational decisions repeatedly and predictably. Behavioral economics strives to understand this irrationality by integrating human psychology into economic analysis. Furthermore, there is a case to be made for how behavioral economics can help design better public policies.
Raj is just an average guy from a different planet.
Don’t Go To Lebanon—By Ali Fakih
Over the years, I have met many people who know very little about Lebanon and nearly all of their information comes from what they see in the news or hear from other people. There are even people who still think the civil war which ended 23 years ago is still going on. I am not sure whether this misinformation is because of a general lack of knowledge or because Beirut is simply a lost city; a place affiliated only with wars and destruction.
In fact, Beirut, along with most parts of Lebanon has been rebuilt and the economy has been booming for the past two decades. Yes, the politics are crap, but if you put politics aside, you will see a true paradise of historical beauty, phenomenal nature, exotic foods, and a hell of a clubbing scene, like nothing you have ever experienced before.
Ali Fakih moved to Liberia nine years ago, after majoring in Management Information Systems. His one insatiable hobby is meeting new people every day.
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