In the Realm of (Un)freedom

1 Nov 2018, 7:00 PM

To what degree are people influenced by society, and to what degree by their origin and family relationships? Is our will truly free? Or do we know not what we do because we cannot predict all consequences of our actions? And what role does modern technology and transnational society play in our lives without us being aware of it? These are the topics that will be discussed in the Gulliver Airship by Finnish writer and neuroscientist Jussi Valtonen, author of the psychological novel They Know Not What They Do and recipient of the Finlandia Prize, and Czech writer and artist Markéta Baňková, author of the popular science bestseller Straka v říši entropie (Magpie in the Realm of Entropy) and a romantic novel set in the era of genetics, Maličkost (Trifle).

Jussi Valtonen (b. 1974) graduated from psychology at the University of Helsinki and neuropsychology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. His third and most recent work is the monumental novel They Know Not What They Do, for which he received the prestigious Finlandia Prize. The book’s protagonist, Joe Chayefski, is a successful neuroscientist with standard problems – raising teenage daughters and a terminally busy wife. All changes when Joe becomes the target of an attack by activists due to scientific experiments on animals. This encounter with reality forces him to start to rethink his views on the rationality of human behavior and the consequences of his own actions.

Markéta Baňková (b. 1969) graduated from graphics and new media at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. Her work includes Mesto.html, an internet novel that merges hypertext, images, and sound, or New York City Map, an emotional guide of New York. In 2010 she wrote and illustrated a book of fables for children and adults entitled Straka v říši entropie [Magpie in the Realm of Entropy] that popularizes some laws of physics, for which she received the Magnesia Litera prize for discovery of the year. In 2015 she published Maličkost [Trifle] (Argo), based in a scientific, student, and medical setting. Under the guise of black humour, the novel explores human identity and the issue of free will.

Admission:

adults 60 CZK

students and seniors 40 CZK


Free for members of the DOX Friends Club

In Finnish and Czech, interpretation to Czech provided.

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