The Being Human Conference, which looks at the science behind the human experience, presents this "welcome and overview" session."
Bio
Peter Baumann
For many years, Peter Baumann has focused on the exploration of well-being and quality of life from a philosophical, conceptual and experiential perspective. In the spring of 2009, Baumann established the Baumann Institute a nonprofit educational and research corporation. “We want to find out whether or not non-dual awareness can be instrumental in the alleviation of suffering and the experience of well-being,” Baumann states. “The results of scientific research were instrumental in exploding meditation into mainstream awareness and acceptance over the last 35 years. We’re hoping over the coming decades our work may lead to similar results with non-dual awareness.” Peter Baumann has brought to all his endeavors, a satisfying balance of natural, free-flowing intuition and rational, businesslike precision. Most recently, he’s focused this innate approach on finding the secrets to “the highest quality of life.” Baumann is a happy, fulfilled human being. “We all like to share what has made a difference in our lives,” he notes. With this in mind, he’s now intent on discovering if what he’s realized for himself can be of service to a broader humanity.
Richard J. Davidson
Richard J. Davidson is the William James and Vilas Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, Director of the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior and the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, Founder and Chair and the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in Psychology and has been at Wisconsin since 1984.
He has published more than 275 articles, many chapters and reviews and edited 13 books. He has been a member of the Mind and Life Institute's Board of Directors since 1991. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his research including a National Institute of Mental Health Research Scientist Award, a MERIT Award from NIMH, an Established Investigator Award from the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders (NARSAD), a Distinguished Investigator Award from NARSAD, the William James Fellow Award from the American Psychological Society, and the Hilldale Award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He was the Founding Co-Editor of the new American Psychological Association journal EMOTION and is Past-President of the Society for Research in Psychopathology and of the Society for Psychophysiological Research. He was the year 2000 recipient of the most distinguished award for science given by the American Psychological Association - the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award. In 2003 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 2004 he was elected to the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters.
He was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine in 2006. In 2006 he was also awarded the first Mani Bhaumik Award by UCLA for advancing the understanding of the brain and conscious mind in healing. Madison Magazine named him Person of the Year in 2007. In 2011, he was given the Paul D. MacLean Award for Outstanding Neuroscience Research in Psychosomatic Medicine. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Board at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig from 2011-2017 and as Chair of the Psychology section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science from 2011-2013. His forthcoming book (with Sharon Begley) The Emotional Life of Your Brain will be published by Penquin in 2012.
Jeff Klein
When not focused on parenting his pre-teen daughter and serving as Executive Director of The Baumann Foundation, Jeff Klein runs Working for Good, a conscious marketing and business development company. He is the author of the award winning book, Working for Good: Making a Difference While Making a Living (Sounds True, 2009), a director of Conscious Capitalism, Inc, and producer of the annual Catalyzing Conscious Capitalism Summit. Jeff has been working with Peter Baumann off and on since 1984, when they teamed up to build Private Music. He enjoys surfing, martial arts, ChiRunning, Yoga, and moving in general.
Fundamental dispositions and traits of humans. Theories about the nature of humankind form a part of every culture. In the West, debate has traditionally centred on whether humans are selfish and competitive (seeThomas Hobbes; John Locke) or social and altruistic (Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim). Recent research in genetics, evolutionary biology, and cultural anthropology suggests that humans may be both, and that there is a complex interaction between genetically inherited factors (“nature”) and developmental and social factors (“nurture”). Basic drives shared with other primates include food, sex, security, play, and social status. Gender differences include greater investment in reproduction and child-rearing among females, hence less risk-taking; and concomitantly less investment and greater risk-taking among males. See alsobehaviour genetics; Homo sapiens; personality; philosophical anthropology; sociobiology.
