In this week's episode of Science Saturday, John Horgan chats with philosopher Denis Dutton about his book, "The Art Instinct," which argues that our artistic values are due, in significant part, to biological adaptations dating back to the Pleistocene.
Next, John and Denis discuss sex and creativity, why there is no art of smell, and the appeal for highly abstract art.
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There's a mini media blitz underway promoting Denis Dutton's new book The Art Instinct. He was on the Colbert Report last week, he's reviewed in the Times, and he's featured in this week's Bloggingheads Science Saturday:
While it's kind of entertaining to listen to John Horgan struggling to get a…
In yesterday's Washington Post, I reviewed The Art Instinct, a new book by Denis Dutton that uses evolutionary psychology to explain the odd human obsession with making art:
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Johnson and Horgan are back on this week's Science Saturday diavlog on Bloggingheads.tv:
From BHTV:
In this week's episode of Science Saturday, John Horgan and George Johnson explain how the latest Jarmusch film, "The Limits of Control," conveys a message of significance for struggling science…
In this week's episode of Science Saturday, John Horgan chats with primatologist Richard Wrangham about two features that define humanity: violence and cooking. They compare chimpanzee aggression and human warfare, discuss the ancient origins of food preparation, assess the raw food diet craze,…
Dutton was on Colbert the other night and did really well, played along in a way that is rare to see on Colbert Show by any guest. You should find and post that clip!
Hey, thanks, Coturnix! It was a hellish experience, but at least I knew who Colbert was. My warm-up act, Paul McCartney, did not. BTW, out of character, Colbert is a lovely chap.
Denis Dutton
The clip is here.