CMBC LECTURE | Shaun Gallagher "Compassion: Real and Artificial"
"Compassion: Real and Artificial"
I’ve proposed a pattern theory of compassion. On this view, compassion is a specific pattern of dynamically related factors that include physiological, cognitive, and affective processes, relational/intersubjective processes, and motivational/action tendencies (Gallagher, Raffone, Aglioti 2024). The idea of compassion as a dynamical pattern is reflected in neuroscientific findings, as well as in compassion practice. This view also allows for a clear distinction between compassion, empathy, and sympathy. Following Dennett’s conception of “real pattern,” compassion can be said to have a pragmatic reality. After summarizing this view I’ll address a question (raised by both computer scientists and Buddhist scholars) about the possibility of creating a compassionate AI system. Can there be such a thing as artificial compassion?
University Event Topic: Lectures & Meetings. School: Emory College. Department / Organization: Center for Mind Brain and Culture. Series: CMBC Lectures. Building/Room: Psychology Building. Speaker/Presenter: Shaun Gallagher
Philosophy
The University of Memphis. Cost: Free.
Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
PAIS 230.
CMBC LECTURE | Sashank Varma "The Travelling Salesperson Problem: How Humans 'Efficiently' Solve a Problem which is 'Hard' for Computers."
"The Travelling Salesperson Problem: How Humans 'Efficiently' Solve a Problem which is 'Hard' for Computers."
The Traveling Salesperson Problem (TSP) is an important problem in mathematics and computer science. A TSP instance is a set of points. To solve it is to produce a ‘tour’ that starts at one point and returns to it after visiting all other points exactly once, and to solve it optimally is to produce a tour of minimum length. As far as we know, computers cannot solve this problem optimally. It is therefore surprising that, for small instances, people produce tours that are near-optimal (i.e. within 10% of the minimal length), and they do so in time linear in the number of points. To accomplish this remarkable feat, we propose that they adopt a divide-and-conquer strategy: first visually clustering the points, then solving each cluster as a smaller TSP instance, and finally joining together these solutions to solve the overall problem. We provide evidence for this proposal in three behavioral…
University Event Topic: Lectures & Meetings. School: Emory College. Department / Organization: Center for Mind Brain and Culture. Series: CMBC Lectures. Building/Room: Psychology Building. Speaker/Presenter: Sashank Varma
Psychology
Georgia Institute of Technology. Cost: Free.
Tuesday, February 17, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
PAIS 230.
CMBC Co-Sponsored LUNCH | Davor Vincze "Interdisciplinary Performance in Immersive & Interactive Environments"
"Interdisciplinary Performance in Immersive & Interactive Environments" RSVP required - please email cmbc@emory.eduIn this lecture, Vincze explores how contemporary artistic practices move beyond single disciplines to create experiences that are immersive, interactive, and integrative. Drawing on theoretical frameworks by Janet Murray (immersion and the fourth wall), Ronald Rowe (interactive systems), and Julie Thompson Klein (interdisciplinarity), he examines how these concepts operate in practice through three recent projects: Freedom Collective, an immersive and smartphone-interactive music theatre work; manτεία a multisensory, AI-driven guided exhibition where artworks interact with one another; and On the Other Earth, a large-scale stereoscopic choreographic installation that redefines the boundaries between dance, cinema, sound, and architecture. Together, these case studies show how composers and artists can design environments that balance structure and emergence, agency and framing, inviting…
University Event Topic: Lectures & Meetings. School: Emory College. Department / Organization: Center for Mind Brain and Culture. Series: CMBC Lunch. Building/Room: Psychology Building. Speaker/Presenter: Davor Vincze
Guest Artist | Hong Kong Baptist University. Event Open To: Emory Community. Cost: Free. Contact Name: Tamara Beck. Contact Email: tamara.beck@emory.edu.
Friday, February 27, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
PAIS 464 - Conference Room RSVP required.
CANCELLED - CMBC LECTURE / POSTPONED | Cynthia Moss, Psychological & Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University (lecture details forthcoming)
Co-sponsored with Frontiers in Neuroscience, POSTPONED.
University Event Topic: Lectures & Meetings. School: Emory College. Department / Organization: Center for Mind Brain and Culture. Series: CMBC Lectures / Frontiers in Neuroscience. Building/Room: Whitehead Bldg. Speaker/Presenter: Cynthia Moss
Psychological & Brain Science
Johns Hopkins University. Cost: Free.
Friday, March 20, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
CMBC LECTURE | Ken Paller "Sleep-based Memory Reactivation and Opportunities for Better Benefits from Sleep"
"Sleep-based Memory Reactivation and Opportunities for Better Benefits from Sleep"
Sleep is critical not only for its restorative benefits but also for its contributions to memory function. Memory reactivation occurs covertly during sleep. Corresponding changes in the brain move memory consolidation forward, enhancing the likelihood of later remembering and stoking creativity. Our habits of overnight memory reactivation—and the specific memories we reactivate each night—influence our daytime psychological well-being. What transpires in our brains after we fall asleep may seem beyond volitional control. To the contrary, it can be strategically modified to seek various benefits. We have developed methods to modify sleep-based memory reactivation using sensory stimulation, and studies with these methods have uncovered various facets of this covert processing, including dreaming. We’ve also sought insights through studies of the well-documented methods of contemplative sleep practices from Tibetan-Buddhist…
University Event Topic: Lectures & Meetings. School: Emory College. Department / Organization: Center for Mind Brain and Culture. Series: CMBC Lectures. Building/Room: Atwood Chemistry Center. Speaker/Presenter: Ken Paller
Psychology
Northwestern University. Cost: Free.
Monday, March 23, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
Atwood 360.
CMBC LECTURE | Chris Krupenye, Psychological & Brain Sciences (lecture details forthcoming)
Details forthcoming.
University Event Topic: Lectures & Meetings. School: Emory College. Department / Organization: Center for Mind Brain and Culture. Series: CMBC Lectures. Building/Room: White Hall. Speaker/Presenter: Chris Krupenye
Psychological & Brain Sciences
Johns Hopkins University. Cost: Free.
Thursday, March 26, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
White Hall 205.
CMBC LECTURE | Raphaël Julliard "The Creative Engine and the Sense of Rightness"
“The Creative Engine and the Sense of Rightness”My research operates at the intersection of anthropology, the psychology of creativity, and micro-phenomenology. It is driven by a central question: in the uncertainty of the creative act, how do creators know when it works?
While traditional approaches often rely on retrospective reconstruction, my work focuses on the "creative engine": the real-time feedback loop between Action (what the maker does) and Affect (how the emerging form acts back upon the maker). I posit that creativity is not a cognitive planning process, but a navigational skill steered by a pre-reflective affective criterion—a felt sense of fitness we conceptualize as "Rightness"—guiding the artist between the risks. To study this, I have moved from historical analysis to experimental ethnography, developing a novel methodology—The Researcher-As-Obstacle (RAO)—designed to investigate the creative mind in action. My goal is to establish a rigorous anthropology of this navigational competence,…
University Event Topic: Lectures & Meetings. School: Emory College. Department / Organization: Center for Mind Brain and Culture. Series: CMBC Lectures. Building/Room: Atwood Chemistry Center. Speaker/Presenter: Raphaël Julliard
Anthropology of the Creative Process | Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Sociale, Ehess, Paris, France. Event Open To: Emory Community. Cost: Free.
Friday, April 3, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
Atwood 360.