Free Thinking - Tale of Genji. Algorithms.
Arts & Ideas
BBC
4.2 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 26 May 2016
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Rana Mitter rereads The Tale of Genji. Sometimes called the world's first novel it was written in the early years of the 11th century and has been credited to the noblewoman and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu. This year's Bradford Literature Festival is focusing on the modern translation from Dennis Washburn, Professor at Dartmouth College (USA). Dennis Washburn joins Rana along with Jennifer Guest and Christopher Harding.
Also in this programme, Brian Christian, co-author of new book 'Algorithms to Live By' on how maths helps us make decisions, and clinical psychologist Rasjid Skinner on Islamic approaches to psychology.
Richard Bowring, Dennis Washburn, Juliet Winters Carpenter discuss The Tale of Genji at the Bradford Literature Festival on Saturday, 28th May 2016 | 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm
Hadj Abdur Rasjid Skinner presents Islamic Approaches to Psychology at the Bradford Literature Festival on Saturday, 28th May 2016 | 10:30 am - 1:00 pm
Brian Christian is the author of Algorithms to Live By and of The Most Human Human.
Producer: Luke Mulhall
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. Evil genius. He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. That's like hiding at your own funeral. Yeah, a big, great gig. I'm Russell Kane. Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. It also helps that it's a long time ago, right? |
| 0:23.3 | It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream van plays music |
| 0:27.0 | when it's out of ice cream. |
| 0:28.8 | Listen to evil genius on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:32.1 | Hello, and it's time for the shining. |
| 0:35.5 | That is the shining prince. |
| 0:37.3 | The Shining Prince. |
| 0:43.3 | Tonight, free-thinking slips ninja-like into the glimmering, shimmering world of medieval Japan, |
| 0:49.3 | as we talk to the translator of what some call the world's first novel, written by a woman whose full real |
| 0:55.4 | name we don't even know. And what if Sigmund Freud had had not a couch in Vienna, but |
| 1:02.2 | an Ottoman in Istanbul? We'll lie back and ask what is Islamic psychology. But first, have |
| 1:10.0 | you ever had trouble finding a free parking spot? |
| 1:12.6 | Well, of course you have. |
| 1:13.6 | And if you've ever wondered how to avoid trudging miles to get back to your car, |
| 1:17.6 | then maybe you just need the right algorithm, |
| 1:20.6 | a calculation that lets you work out the optimal distance |
| 1:23.6 | that you have to go to find that elusive little strip of concrete that can accommodate |
| 1:28.1 | your vintage Hillman Imp. And it's not just parking on all the decisions in life, from hiring |
| 1:34.2 | a business partner to finding a mate. An algorithm might just be what you need. Also says Brian Christian, |
| 1:41.3 | who's co-authored the book Algorithms to Live By, the Computer Science of Human Decisions with Tom Griffiths. |
| 1:47.4 | And he's down the line from San Francisco now. |
| 1:49.9 | So, Brian, what exactly is an algorithm? |
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