Roger Bingham
Encyclopedia
Roger Bingham is a British science communicator, writer, and public television producer and host. He is co-founder and director of The Science Network
and creator of the Beyond Belief
conferences. Bingham created the KCET
Science and Society Unit. There he wrote and produced the Frontiers of the Mind series, which included "The Addicted Brain", "The Sexual Brain", "The Time of Our Lives", and "Inside Information". He has co-authored two books, Wild Card (1974) and The Origin of Minds: Evolution, Uniqueness, and the New Science of the Self (Harmony, 2002).
In 1996, Bingham hosted and co-wrote the PBS television series The Human Quest (1996). Philip Hefner
wrote that the series "represents some of the best and most sensitive popular discussion of cutting-edge science available". The Human Quest episode The Nature Of Human Nature won a Writers Guild of America Award
. The Human Quest was built on the conceptual framework of evolutionary psychology
which Bingham began to distance himself from in the mid-1990s.
From 1995-96, Bingham was a visiting associate at Caltech in Biology and interacted with neuroscientists, including evolutionary neuroscientist, John Allman
. Bingham and Peggy La Cerra presented an alternative to the model of evolutionary psychology in their book, The Origin of Minds, (Harmony, 2002). This model was based on the concept of adaptive representational networks (ARN). According to this theory, these networks encode the history of an individual's behavioral successes and failures in relationship to the energy costs of any particular behavior. Hence, memory becomes an accounting mechanism for computing the energy costs of behavior. La Cerra and Bingham called this model "Theoretical Evolutionary Neuroscience.". After the publication of "The Origin of Minds," Bingham turned his attention to developing a platform for science communication; he has not published any further work in the field of neuroscience.
In 2003, Roger Bingham and Terry Sejnowski
initiated a science education project that became known as The Science Network
. The Science Network (TSN) is a web-based organization concerned with science and its impact on society. The first event sponsored by TSN was a site conference on stem cells in 2004. Roger Bingham serves as the director of the The Science Network
.
Bingham is currently an affiliate of the Computational Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies
and the Institute for Neural Computation at UC San Diego.
The Science Network
The Science Network is a non-profit, web-based organization concerned with science and its impact on society.The mission of The Science Network is to build an online science and society agora, or public square, dedicated to the discussion of issues at the intersection of science and social policy...
and creator of the Beyond Belief
Beyond Belief
Beyond Belief may refer to:In film, television and radio:* Beyond Belief , a short film featuring the band Petra* Beyond Belief , a documentary about two 9/11 widows...
conferences. Bingham created the KCET
KCET
KCET, channel 28, is an independent, non-commercial public television station licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KCET's studio is located on West Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is atop Mount Wilson. Al Jerome is the current CEO and President, serving since 1996.KCET was...
Science and Society Unit. There he wrote and produced the Frontiers of the Mind series, which included "The Addicted Brain", "The Sexual Brain", "The Time of Our Lives", and "Inside Information". He has co-authored two books, Wild Card (1974) and The Origin of Minds: Evolution, Uniqueness, and the New Science of the Self (Harmony, 2002).
In 1996, Bingham hosted and co-wrote the PBS television series The Human Quest (1996). Philip Hefner
Philip Hefner
Philip Hefner is a professor emeritus of systematic theology at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago His research career has focused on the interaction of religion and science, for which he is most well known. Hefner has held several dozen visiting teaching and lecturing appointments at...
wrote that the series "represents some of the best and most sensitive popular discussion of cutting-edge science available". The Human Quest episode The Nature Of Human Nature won a Writers Guild of America Award
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
. The Human Quest was built on the conceptual framework of evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, the functional...
which Bingham began to distance himself from in the mid-1990s.
From 1995-96, Bingham was a visiting associate at Caltech in Biology and interacted with neuroscientists, including evolutionary neuroscientist, John Allman
John Allman
John Morgan Allman is a neuroscientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California and a well recognized expert on primates, cognition and evolutionary neuroscience.-Life:He graduated from University of Chicago, with a PhD....
. Bingham and Peggy La Cerra presented an alternative to the model of evolutionary psychology in their book, The Origin of Minds, (Harmony, 2002). This model was based on the concept of adaptive representational networks (ARN). According to this theory, these networks encode the history of an individual's behavioral successes and failures in relationship to the energy costs of any particular behavior. Hence, memory becomes an accounting mechanism for computing the energy costs of behavior. La Cerra and Bingham called this model "Theoretical Evolutionary Neuroscience.". After the publication of "The Origin of Minds," Bingham turned his attention to developing a platform for science communication; he has not published any further work in the field of neuroscience.
In 2003, Roger Bingham and Terry Sejnowski
Terry Sejnowski
Terrence Joseph Sejnowski is an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and is the Francis Crick Professor at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies where he directs the Computational Neurobiology Laboratory...
initiated a science education project that became known as The Science Network
The Science Network
The Science Network is a non-profit, web-based organization concerned with science and its impact on society.The mission of The Science Network is to build an online science and society agora, or public square, dedicated to the discussion of issues at the intersection of science and social policy...
. The Science Network (TSN) is a web-based organization concerned with science and its impact on society. The first event sponsored by TSN was a site conference on stem cells in 2004. Roger Bingham serves as the director of the The Science Network
The Science Network
The Science Network is a non-profit, web-based organization concerned with science and its impact on society.The mission of The Science Network is to build an online science and society agora, or public square, dedicated to the discussion of issues at the intersection of science and social policy...
.
Bingham is currently an affiliate of the Computational Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a premier independent, non-profit, scientific research institute located in La Jolla, California. It was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vaccine; among the founding consultants were Jacob Bronowski and Francis Crick. Building...
and the Institute for Neural Computation at UC San Diego.
Awards
- Writers Guild of America AwardWriters Guild of America AwardThe Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
in Documentary, Current Events, The Human Quest: The Nature Of Human Nature, 1996, with Carl Byker - American Psychological AssociationAmerican Psychological AssociationThe American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
Award for Excellence in Television, Inside Information: The Brain and How It Works, 1992, with John Rubin - National Magazine AwardNational Magazine AwardThe National Magazine Awards are a series of US awards that honor excellence in the magazine industry. They are administered by the American Society of Magazine Editors and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City...
in Public Interest, Technology for Peace: The Politics of Mistrust, Science, 1986 - Los Angeles Emmy AwardLos Angeles Emmy AwardThe Los Angeles Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in the local programming of the Greater Los Angeles Area...
for Information Segment, "Shake, Rattle & Roll" (KCET) -- Robert Dean, producer; Roger Bingham, executive producer