Neuroscience can be hypnotic. The science can make us fall into a trance, as coloured images light up the darkest reaches of our cerebral cortex and hold up a dual and near-irresistible promise. An explicit promise, to reveal who we really are, and an implicit one, to help us make better decisions based on this self-knowledge. The reality, beyond the trance, is that progress in neuroscience is—literally—providing us with an image of humanity (and a new vocabulary) that transforms our understanding of what it is to be human, of how we imagine ourselves and of how we conceive our relationship with others.

It is both the potential of such an understanding, as well as its possible pitfalls that the six specially commissioned pieces of Prospect’s supplement—listed below—explore. The promise of neuroscience is that in trying to tell us who we are, it really tells us more about who we can be, and who we might want to become. And these essays point to the need for rival interpretations of knowledge and behaviour. Perhaps more importantly, they suggest that, as with all knowledge, the extraordinary insights of neuroscience will be at their most useful if they remain sensitive to the social and cultural context that produces them.

Dr Catherine Fieschi, Director, Counterpoint, British Council
www.counterpoint-online.org

FEATURES

Unpicking the brain
by Dan Jones
Can neuroscientific research act as a guide to public policy?

Neuroscience roundtable: is anybody in there?
Featuring: AC Grayling, Susie Orbach, Matthew Taylor, Steven Rose and others
Prospect’s expert panel debates what brain scanning can reveal about who we are and how to live

OPINIONS

It’s not all hardwired
Henrietta Moore
Neuroscience is making bold claims about human culture—but should we trust them?

Moulding young minds
Tom Chatfield
Digital culture does not ruin children’s brains. In fact, it may help them learn better

Neuro ergo sum?
Guy Kahane
It is beguiling to think brain science can help us tell right from wrong—and unlikely too

Undue modesty
Alexander Linklater
We must not overhype brain science. But the real risk is that we underestimate it