What makes us human? And is that something we could lose? In this week’s episode of Up Close, we look at those studying how to preserve species, and one psychologist’s call for preserving human communication.
For many, the question of whether to preserve species in danger of extinction can be answered with an obvious, “Yes.” But that raises the questions of what exactly we’re preserving. If it’s genes and physical characteristics alone, there’s an animal culture of sorts that we’re surely leaving behind. M.R. O’Connor explores all these thorny questions in Resurrection Science: Conservation, De-Extinction and the Precarious Future of Wild Things.
And then, if we can lose a given species of crow by changing its environment and taking away its inherited culture, can we also lose the culture that makes us human? That warning sign is being presented by MIT Professor Sherry Turkle in Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age.
Watch the complete episode of Up Close on TJC on-demand on cable in the TJC Original Series/Interviews category. You can also listen to the complete audio of this episode at the top of this post or by subscribing to our weekly audio podcast at http://feeds.feedburner.com/tjcupclose or on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tjcs-up-close/id807702211.
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