Philosophy Seminars - Digital Technologies, Critique and Society
"Cybernetic Selves: The Neuroscience of Identity in the Age of Human-Machine Integration"
Speaker: Dicle Yurdakul
Moderator: Emre Şan
This seminar will explore how our sense of identity and self-perception are being reshaped as technology increasingly integrates into our bodies, minds, and environments. As technologies such as brain-machine interfaces, prosthetics, wearable devices, and virtual worlds advance, the boundaries between human and machine and between the virtual and the real blur, giving rise to "cybernetic" identities. The seminar will examine the neuroscientific mechanisms driving this transformation and how these technologies affect brain functions, cognitive processes, self-perception, and identity construction in both physical and virtual realms. We will discuss the ethical and philosophical questions surrounding identity in a world where human-machine symbiosis and virtual experiences are becoming more prevalent, and what it will mean to be human in such a future.
Dicle Yurdakul is the director of AU INOVA Research Center and INOVA NeuroLab, founder and managing partner of WE.Q. Consulting, consultant for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and faculty member of Altınbaş University Faculty of Business Administration. She conducted her doctoral studies in Marketing at Izmir University of Economics and the University of Texas in 2013. She then continued her Post-Doc studies at Koç University for two years. She began her academic career in 2015 as a faculty member. Throughout her academic career, she has taught courses and participated in research teams at various universities including Izmir University of Economics, Ecole de Management de Normandie, University of Texas, University of Rhode Island, Koç University, and Bilgi University. She has numerous articles and publications in the fields of Marketing, Sustainability, and Behavioral Sciences. Since 2014, she has been involved in consultancy and project management roles in sustainability and inclusive business model projects conducted under UNDP IICPSD (Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development). She has served as a Systems Lab consultant in the "SDG Impact Accelerator," Turkey's first and only impact accelerator. Within WE.Q. Consulting, of which she is a founding and managing partner, she conducts research and projects in the "TECH4GOOD" and "Future of Work" fields with technology companies including Microsoft, Google, and Facebook, as well as relevant NGOs, and provides training. She serves as a Board Member at the Turkey Informatics Foundation.
* The seminar will be held in Turkish. To attend this seminar, you can create your registration by using the "Register" button on the page and receive your free event invitation. Registrations will open 1 week before the event date (06.03.2025, at 18:30) and the "Register" button will become visible. Participation is limited to a quota of 110 people.
** Participants who have completed the event registration and received their invitation are kindly requested to be at the venue at least 15 minutes before the event. The doors will be closed at the event starting time.