‘Brains, Minds, Machines’ was the inter-disciplinary theme for this year’s Upper School Symposium, on October 13. Three top academics – Dr Derek Dunfield from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr Anders Sandberg from Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute, and Professor Murray Shanahan from Imperial College, London, spoke on brain science, robotics, life-extension, and behavioural economics - that is, how we are influenced to make decisions in ways we might not be aware of. Boys learned that a ten-dollar bottle of wine is as good as, or better than, a 90-dollar one, as long as you believe that you are drinking the more expensive vintage. They also learned how scientists are trying to build the brain of a mouse in computer form, and were treated to an exclusive screening of the fascinating documentary film ‘Transhuman’. In one of the day’s other highlights, three Dulwich College teachers (Dr Neil Croally, Mr Ed Swift and Mr Damian King) took each other on in a vigorous and entertaining debate, which touched on many aspects of the big question of the day – what is it to be human?