Mark Lythgoe asks: Is a perfect mind happy?

It was only two-and-a-half thousand years ago when it was said: ‘Men ought to know that from the brain, and from the brain only, arise our pleasures, joys, laughter and jests, as well as our sorrows, pains, griefs and tears. Through it in particular, we think, see, hear, distinguish the ugly from the beautiful, the bad from the good, and the pleasant from the unpleasant’ (Hippocrates).

Yet the challenge today is not just understanding the mind, but rather how do we intervene with our thoughts, feeling and emotions? I do not know what makes us happy; in fact I do not know what makes me happy. Yet we strive for happiness at every level and go to extremes to fulfil our needs and desires. Can we find that elusive state of contentment? And if we do, is there a price to pay?

This event will take an extraordinary journey into the physical spaces of the brain and ask whether we can fulfil our desire for happiness and perfection – from drugs to education, and from philosophy to science. Can the object of our thoughts be altered, changed and bettered? And more importantly, should it? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts below.

Mark Lythgoe is a curator of the Perfection of the Mind, Body and Machine series on Saturday 3 July 2010, and is speaking at A Perfect Mind.

Book tickets for these three events today for just £8 each, or £20 for the series.