Join a panel of scientists, scholars and public intellectuals, including primatologist Frans de Waal, international economic advisor and Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs, experimental social psychologist Steven Neuberg, cognitive neuroscientist Rebecca Saxe, physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson and New York Times editorialist Charles Blow, as they discuss the biological and social dimensions of the timely issue of xenophobia, or the unreasonable fear of "others."

The panel discussion, held at Arizona State University's Gammage Auditorium and presented by the ASU Origins Project and ASU's Center for Social Dynamics and Complexity, is set for 10 P.M. EDT Saturday evening. 
Live video by Ustream

11 Comments

1. 1. promytius 10:18 AM 4/1/12

   I decided not to stare too long at the off air sign - it may prejudice me against others...
   If we were all xenophobic, there would be no republican party!

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2. 2. rsabbatini 05:36 PM 4/1/12

   Humans have evolved so high because of they hate and fight each other, the so called tribal mind. According to Dr. Edmund O. Wilson, in his path-breaking book "Sociobiology", genocide has been one of the main drivers of rapid evolution of our brain, and even the biblic God has ordered Moses to perpetrate genocide against his neighbours. See Dr. Cardoso's ingenous article on Transcending the Tribal Mind. It's a biological fixture of humans" http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n09/tribal_i.htm

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3. 3. marclevesque in reply to frankblank 06:48 PM 4/1/12

   "Because they look, sound, and smell different from us and our friends. And since we are a tool making/using species, they can therefore be turned into, then used, as tools."
   
   I'm not sure they are payed. But anyway I guess they're wondering about whether we have to be taught to fear differences of these kinds, whether our present* state of affairs is productive, and whether we can do something about it.
   
   *and in my opinion I'd also wonder if it ever was productive

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4. 4. kevin_neilson 12:13 AM 4/2/12

   Since xeonophobia is described as an "unreasonable" fear of others, I won't even listen to this, as it's based on a false assumption. Was it unreasonable for the Indians to have feared my ancestors? No. It would be folly for me not to harbor the same fear.

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5. 5. billsincl 09:32 PM 4/2/12

   SO, WHICH SATURDAY IS THAT? MARCH 31 or April 7th?
   
   When we were hunter-gatherers, it WAS reasonable to fear others, since they were likely to kill you for your food or your mate.
   
   But what happened to Moses' injunction : "Thou shalt not kill?" How does that fit in with genocide?
   
   Other ET civilizations are going to judge us based upon how we treat each other. Right now, our rating would be very poor - - -

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6. 6. Laird Wilcox 06:59 AM 4/5/12

   Fear of others, particularly if they don't look like you, may be maladaptive in today's world, or perhaps in much of today's world. However, one needs to remember that "today's world" means now, or perhaps the last couple hundred years or so.
   
   It's only been the last fraction of one percent of human history when people who were different were not also usually dangerous. For a person who saw a group of different looking people coming over the horizon and didn't feel great fear was to be very, very stupid and probably wouldn't be around very long. The atmosphere was selective for xenophobia.
   
   If they spoke a different language that meant they were unlike you, and probably as apprehensive about you as you were about them -- and reasonably so in terms of the culture of the times. The utopian vision of human nature shared by most liberals is a relatively recent event in our history. It may prevail in the long run but it hasn't always been around.
   
   Asking human beings to unlearn responses that have existed for nearly all of their history is hard for many people and this shouldn't be shocking. It doesn't mean it shouldn't be done but don't be surprised if everyone isn't up to speed.

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7. 7. bongobimbo 11:21 AM 4/5/12

   To Rsabbatini: Dr Wilson has disavowed that conclusion, which has been exaggerated anyhow.
   
   It can't be hardwired. Why is it that some of us are NOT born with xenophobia? I've been interested in the stories and customs related by people from other backgrounds since childhood, have traveled abroad as an adult, and invariably found the people likeable, their cultures fascinating. For a while I thought it was because we lived during WWII in a Chicago neighborhood with some first-generation Italian, Polish, Lithuanian, and German-Jewish families, but my mother felt the same way and she was raised in an all-white, all-Protestant Iowa small town. She was the only one of her siblings who proudly told everyone her father's story that his side of the family were descended from a Christian and Jewish young couple who fled England for America in the 18th century, and in the 19th a descendant married a Shawnee. One of the reasons I converted to Unitarianism 56 years ago, in college, was that the newspaper where my parents lived (in the deep south) ran a full page ad from a local Unitarian church where the parishioners were alarmed by the city's religious bigots, that read something like this: "You'll be welcomed and respected here no matter where you were born, what religion you were reared in, or what the color of your skin is." I've since lived in many more states and the UU church hasn't disappointed me, nor do the many interfaith groups I belong to. My local mixed-race church welcomes GLBT folks, too.
   
   I'm 76 now, married a 2nd generation Italian 43 years ago, our son was raised in mixed neighborhoods, and I've lived in many locales that were largely African American (still do), mixed Hispanic (in Texas) and in glorious Honolulu just about everything. Perhaps my eagerness to know about differences led me to major in Linguistics as an undergrad.
   
   Thirteen years ago my son married a beautiful engineer from Korea, who will have their second child in August. On our little planet there's really only one race of sentient beings, every nationality beautiful, having equal potential if given the opportunity, and with wonderfully fascinating cultures and languages. It's called the human race.

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8. 8. bucketofsquid in reply to rsabbatini 09:24 AM 4/6/12

   So you choose to disregard tens of thousands of years where there is no archaeological record of warfare to focus on a very tiny portion of human history? Bad science! Our brains evolved to fight predators. Much more logical and backed by archaeology.

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9. 9. bucketofsquid in reply to kevin_neilson 09:24 AM 4/6/12

   So you fear your own ancestors?

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10. 10. bucketofsquid in reply to billsincl 09:28 AM 4/6/12

    Most hunter/gatherer cultures didn't practice warfare or raiding until they began to be crowded by agricultural societies. Most cultures don't become prejudiced until they have sufficient contact with another group so strangers isn't an automatic trigger. Violent cultures tend to be more hostile to new arrivals and peaceful cultures tend to be more friendly.

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11. 11. bucketofsquid in reply to billsincl 09:38 AM 4/6/12

    In regards to the commandment that is usually translated as "Thou shalt not kill", this is a Germanic inspired translation and not a pure translation. At the time of Moses the Hebrews believed that they were the chosen people of God and thus superior to all others. Some still feel this way. The word kill is used in the context of other Hebrews and has the strong implication of not killing without good reason. Hebrews were always a very inclusive group but if you wouldn't join then you were not really human. The most proper translation as I understand it is: "Thou shalt not kill another Hebrew who is keeping the faith with God and living a righteous life without a good reason". This leaves genocide and burning witches or stoning adulterers as a viable option. Moses had long since rotted away and Jesus was dead and resurrected before a second generation disciple started applying Christianity to non-Jews. In the story of the good Samaritan you have to remember that all parties involved were Hebrew even though the Judeans and Samaritans were bitter rivals.

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