February 10, 2012 7:30 PM. 120 attended.

Against Nature? Homosexuality and Evolution. A talk by Professor Volker Sommer..

Conway Hall (map)

Selected By: Derek Lennard

 

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR INTEREST IN THIS EVENT, WHICH IS LIKELY TO BE VERY BUSY INDEED!

Although the lecture starts at 7.30pm as scheduled, you are advised to arrive early-we will be there from 6.30pm. Thanks.


GALHA EVENTS TEAM 


 

 

 

Same-sex behaviour is often condemned on the grounds that it is "against nature". Indeed, selection favours those who leave more offspring. Nevertheless, homosexual behaviour is widespread-not only amongst humans, but other animals alike. Doesn't this constitute a paradox for Darwinian theory? And should we make connections between what goes on in nature and what is morally desirable? The talk will address these controversial topics.

 

The speaker, Volker Sommer is Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at UCL. His research centres around field studies of monkeys and apes in Asia and Africa, and his expertise includes the evolution of social behaviour as well as biodiversity conservation. Volker Sommer is on the scientific board of the "Giordano-Brun Foundation" -a German based think-tank dedicated to the promotion of secularism and evolutionary humanism.

This is a special "Darwin Day" event.

  • Settimio
    Settimio

    thanks for the advice, how long is the talk's "official" duration?

    Posted February 5 at 12:10 PM
  • Derek Lennard
    Derek Lennard

    Hi Settimio. I think the talk plus questions will be from about 7.30 to 9.00pm, followed by drinks, chat etc:
    By the way I definitely don't want to put you or anyone else from attending! It's just the room only takes 80, so the cautionary note is just in case we get more than that!
    Thanks for your enthusiasm and interest.
    By the way we'll be serving drinks and welcoming the attendees from 7!

    Posted February 5 at 12:21 PM
  • Settimio
    Settimio

    Dear Derek, I am not put off at all, I do appreciate the advice! Just making plans for the after-talk, so thank you for your help!

    Posted February 5 at 12:26 PM
  • Dushan Stojadinovic
    Dushan Stojadinovic

    Hi, I don't seem to be able to see 'the update' for this event, has something changed?

    Posted February 5 at 4:34 PM
  • Derek Lennard
    Derek Lennard

    Hi Dushan. The update is at the very beginning when we're advising people to come early as it looks like this will be a very busy event.
    Thanks for your interest-looking forward to seeing you there!
    Derek

    Posted February 5 at 4:40 PM | 1 like
  • Dushan Stojadinovic
    Dushan Stojadinovic

    Derek thanks so much, I'll make sure I'm in early, would hate to miss it. See you there. Dushan.

    Posted February 5 at 4:56 PM | 1 like
  • Fares
    Fares

    Hello,

    I have just found out about this website and joined so I can attend this meet up. My question is, is it a ticketed event?! If yes, can you provide me with a link.

    Regards,

    Fares

    Posted February 8 at 2:49 PM
  • Derek Lennard
    Derek Lennard

    Hi Fares,
    Thanks for joining us. We meet every month and are meetings are open to the public. All meetings are free. There are no tickets for this event, but there is a great deal of interest and we may have difficulty getting everyone who wants to go to it, in the room. So although the talk starts at 7.30pm,we're advising people to come at 7 or even a bit earlier to secure their place.
    Thanks for your interest, Derek.

    Posted February 8 at 5:36 PM
  • Fares
    Fares

    Hi Derek,

    Thanks so much for the reply. This sounds great !
    I will make sure I come before 7 !

    Regards,

    Fares

    Posted February 9 at 2:05 PM | 1 like
  • Tyrone
    Tyrone

    Really fascinating talk, and a very amusing speaker.

    I wrote a blog entry about this a few years ago, if anyone is interested. http://tyroneintokyo.blogspot.com/2007/05/biological-expl...

    Posted February 11 at 10:24 AM | 1 like
  • Behzad
    Behzad

    It was a brilliant night, I really enjoyed the lecture.
    Thanks to all who organised it.
    I look forward to attending future events.

    Posted February 11 at 12:13 PM | 1 like

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120 attended
5.00 5.0021 (21 ratings)
  • Event Host
    Derek Lennard
    Events co-ordinator, Assistant Organizer
    +1 guest
    A brilliant, informative and highly amusing talk by Volker Sommer. I really enjoyed it.
  • Event Host
    Richard Unwin
    Assistant Organizer
    +1 guest
  • Event Host
    Adam Knowles
    Chair, Organizer
  • Stuart
    +1 guest
    Very entertaining and a great buzz - thank you very much to Derek, Adam, Richard, Tyrone and the mysterious '1 more', for putting this on. Though fun and a fab start to the weekend, Sommer's talk surprised me a little - I had thought it might focus more on aspects of kin selection in great apes (and I wonder how familiar everyone in the audience might have been with this topic area), but in retrospect and given the venue his more rounded approach was not surprising.
  • Jonathan Silver
    +1 guest
    Really interesting and amusing presentation. Lots of food for thought.
  • Jon Clarke
    +2 guests
    This was an exceptional event, with a brilliant speaker - read my review at http://jon-... Jx
  • Peter Galazka
    +1 guest
    I'm a new member and it was my first event, I had a great evening! Well done, excellent event! Thx for organising
  • Alan Trevethan
    Excellent meetup. Thanks are due for Derek Lennard, for organising the event, and Professor Volker Sommer, for his stimulating talk. It was no surprise to see how well attended it was.
  • Behzad
    Great topic, well-presented, stimulating questions; very kindly audience.
  • Thalia
    Professor Sommer gave a very engaging and amusing talk, I'd love to hear more from him on this interesting topic. The overall message I took from his presentation was that we are looking the wrong way if we are expecting to defend homosexuality in humans by comparing it to animal behaviour. However its occurrence in nature does reaffirm that it can be explained by evolutionary theory.
  • Joseph Brooks
    Chief Science Officer
    Funny, engaging, and informative. Excellent event.
  • Brendan Armstrong
    +1 guest
    Very good indeed. Prof Volker gave an engaging and clear talk. I would be interested in reading or hearing more on this.
  • Jadzia
    +1 guest
    This is the second time I saw Professor Volker Sommer's presentation and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very informative evening with great question and answer session at the end of the lecture. The room was packed, great topic.
  • Julia Robertson
    +1 guest
    This was an excellent talk - very informative and great fun, too! Thank you so much!
  • Graham Bell
    Excellent - informative and entertaining at the same time. Wish all talks could be this good!
  • Jeremy Kingston
    An excellent evening. Packed with information and told with great humour and lovely use of slides. I'll always remember the HE HE, HE HO, HE HO and HO HO genetics.
  • Tristram W
    +1 guest
    Excellent talk. Particularly thought provoking on the use of 'natural' as an argument for and against equality and human rights. Record crowd - full to bursting.
  • steven
    Very informative & enjoyable presentation.
  • Claudia
  • Mona Singh
  • Chris Keys
  • unametropolis
  • Leviathen
  • benjamin scanlon
  • Peter McGraith
    +1 guest
  • Colin Heinink
  • Pedro Martins
  • Warren S
    Checked-in
  • mark nicholls
  • Silvia
  • Fares
  • Linziee
  • Ian John
  • Ida
    +1 guest
  • kerry burrell
  • Lili
    +1 guest
  • Megan
  • Settimio
  • Dushan Stojadinovic
  • Gary John Dunn
    +2 guests
  • Marco Tranchino
  • Luiza Moreira
  • Richard Goldstein
  • Tim Williams
    +1 guest
  • Riva Joffe
  • Mark C Morley-Smith
  • Martin Wilson
  • Rhiannon Cajipe-Stansfield
  • William Fell-Holden
  • Gregory Carey
    +1 guest

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