Why do human beings behave the way that they do? Are we pre-wired such that our behavior is influenced solely by genetic inheritance and other biological factors? Or, are is our behavior influenced mainly by experiential learning and exposure to external factors, i.e. culture and environment after birth? The degree to which either or both factors contribute to psychological development and influence human behavior is the crux of the nature vs nurture scientific debate today and a topic of intense psychological and philosophical inquiry since John Locke published his Essay Concerning Human Understanding in 1690. One of the hotbeds of academic research on this topic took place within Columbia’s own Psychology Department in the 1970s. There, Professor Herbert Terrace conducted a radical experiment : could a baby chimpanzee, if raised within human family on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, develop sufficient language skills so as to reveal its inner(-most) thoughts about itself and the world? Discover the answers to this mind-boggling experiment and discuss its varied implications with your fellow Chicagoland alumni when the Film Circle present’s Project Nim, a 2011 documentary film by director James Marsh based on the book “Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp who Would be Human” by Elizabeth Hess. Pizza, both kosher and non-kosher, beer wine and snacks will be served. The event price of $10 covers food, drinks and rental fees.
Film Club Presents Project Nim
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