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Xindanwei Chitchat Edition 25: Technology and Consciousness
Time: 19:30-21:30 Thursday, Oct, 21st
Location: Xindanwei, 50 Yongjia Rd
Cost:
30RMB (providing tea, coffee, soft drink and snacks); Free of Charge for Xindanwei Monthly and Yearly Member
Important Notice:
-This is a reservation only event, seats are limited to the first 40 people who are registered at the event page of Xindanwei website.
- Transportation: We highly recommend you to take public transportation instead of driving, for we are conveniently located next to Metro line 1, 10(Shaanxi Rd South Stop) and Metro 9 (Jiashan Rd stop) as well as bus line 96, 104, 911, 167，42，920，926，128，146，24
Speaker: Dr. Gino Yu
Gino’s current work focuses upon understanding and developing ways in which media technologies can be applied to create experiences that provoke personal growth and inner exploration. Gino will speak about the Asia Consciousness Festival that he created to contribute to the global understanding of consciousness from an Asian perspective. It’s a non-profit established to support regional efforts in the study and application of consciousness. The first festival was held in June 2009 and hosted more than 30 events across 16 days.
The goals of the Asia Consciousness Festival are to establish its position as a reputable one of its kind yearly international event in South East Asia, to showcase a range of experiential and entertainment programs that is unique, fun and thought provoking in an inspirational way, and to gather a network of like minded thinkers and doers in the region.
Check out their website: http://www.asiaconsciousness.org/
About Gino:
Gino Yu received his BS and PhD at the University of California at Berkeley in 1987 and 1993 respectively. After receiving is PhD, he taught at the University of Southern California and worked to establish multimedia initiatives including the Integrated Media Systems Center. From 1995 to 1997, he taught at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology where he helped to establish the Center for Enhanced Learning Technologies. In 1999, he established the Multimedia Innovation Centre (http://www.mic.polyu.edu.hk) at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), a leading edge think tank and research centre on digital entertainment. He is currently an Associate Professor and Director of Digital Entertainment and Game Development in the School of Design at PolyU where he develops projects at Playlab (http://www.playlab.hk), a commercially oriented digital entertainment laboratory he co-founded that focuses on meaningful games. His main area research interests involve the application of media technologies to cultivate creativity and promote consciousness. He also founded the Asia Consciousness Festival (http://www.asiaconsciousness.org) and developing consciousness and meaningful media related activities worldwide.
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[lang_cn]
新单位茶话会第25期：技术与良知
演讲者: Gino Yu
时间: 10月21日，19:30 – 21:30
地点: 徐汇区永嘉路50号, 新单位
费用:每人30元 (包含咖啡和茶点), 新单位月会员和年会员免费
非常重要！
－人数：该活动需要网上预定, 仅限于在xindanwei网站活动界面上前40位预定的观众入场.
－交通：我们附近的地铁与公交非常方便，建议您不要开车。地铁一、十号线（陕西南路站）九号线(嘉善路站)及公交96, 104, 911, 167，42，920，926，128，146，167，24等均可轻松到达。
Gino Yu博士是香港理工大学设计学院数字娱乐与游戏发展部的副教授和主席。他的研究涉及设计自动化、电脑动画、电玩游戏、创造力、意识研究等范畴，发表论文达六十多篇。主要研究媒体技术应用，及如何以之培养创造力并提升啓蒙意识（即具有深远意义的媒体）。他是 PolyU MERECL联合创始人，该机构为一家商业导向的数字娱乐实验室，为产业提供服务，他亦是香港数字娱乐协会的主席和联合创始人。他在1987年和1993 年在贝克利分别获得加利福尼亚大学电子工程与电脑科学学士与博士学位。同时也是一位作曲家
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I can not find the check in link, how can I register?
Comment by mountain — October 19, 2010 @ 6:52 pm
me too. I want be in. Where is the check in buttom?
Comment by tifa — October 19, 2010 @ 9:42 pm
@mountain: fixed
Comment by aaajiao — October 19, 2010 @ 11:12 pm
in the morning? then i am in…
Comment by gfyybkj — October 20, 2010 @ 9:05 am
@gfyybkj: pm
Comment by aaajiao — October 20, 2010 @ 9:46 am
Dr. Gino Yu gave an interesting and inspiring talk on his research which aims to use technology in order to understand consciousness. He began by speaking about how what used to be philosophical questions, such as free will, are now becoming technological ones. He showed a video of an experiment where a person is given a group of buttons and is told to press one whenever he registers the urge to do so. Wires attached to the person’s brain show that there is actually significant brain activity before the person knows that he has consciously chosen which button to press, implying that our decisions may be made before we’re even aware of them.
He also talked about how fear, as we all know, can induce physiological responses such as a quickening heart beat and an adrenaline rush, but that thoughts and ideas can do that too. He gave the examples of watching a movie, or of hearing news of one of your friends dying. These are mental stimuli which induce chemical reactions through ideas. This is opposed to physical stimuli, such as being attacked or robbed by someone. In both cases, though, it is merely the brain releasing chemicals that makes us experience the emotion. This raises questions not only of what emotions actually are, but also of the differences between the physical and mental worlds and how we experience them.
This then gave raise to the topic of religion and the question of how we communicate inner experiences. There are three ways in which we can do this: mythology, art, and ritual. If you take all three of those away from a religion, Gino argued, then there is nothing left. This is because all religions attempt to convey an inner experience, and, according to Gino, they all attempt to convey the very same experience: that right here, right now, it’s good to be alive.
Comment by Justin_Lipsky — October 26, 2010 @ 4:56 pm