Genes and the Blasphemy Meme
A Talk by Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy
Thursday, 17th February 2011 at 7:00 pm
PeaceNiche, T2F, Faraar Gallery
10-C, Sunset Lane 5, Phase 2 Extension, DHA, Karachi – 75500
In this talk, Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy will apply Richard Dawkin’s marvelous insight, first articulated in “The Selfish Gene”, towards understanding how belief systems propagate themselves, and to analyzing the growth of religious extremism. The recent blasphemy controversy will be examined in the light of genes and memes.
Pervez HoodbhoyDr. Pervez Hoodbhoy has been a faculty member at the Quaid-e-Azam University since 1973. In 1984 he received the Abdus Salam Prize for mathematics and is the author of 65 scientific research papers. He is chairman of Mashal, a non-profit organization which publishes books in Urdu on women’s rights, education, environmental issues, philosophy, and modern thought.
Dr. Hoodbhoy has written and spoken extensively on topics ranging from science in Islam to education issues in Pakistan and nuclear disarmament. He produced a 13-part documentary series in Urdu for Pakistan Television on critical issues in education, and two series aimed at popularizing science. He is author of ‘Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality’, now in 5 languages. In 2003, Dr. Hoodbhoy was awarded UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize for popularizing science in Pakistan with TV serials and his film ’The Bell Tolls for Planet Earth’ won honorable mention at the Paris Film Festival.
(Thanks to Harsh Kapoor of SACW)