Robert Kurzban is a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Why Everyone (Else) is a Hypocrite. Before taking the stage to speak about humans and behavioral inconsistency, he sat down for our “In The Green Room” Q&A.
Q. What was your first car?
A. A Nissan Sentra. It was white, SE model, with a fancy spoiler on the back.
Q. Who do you consider the biggest hypocrite, real or fictional?
A. Spitzer, former Governor from New York.
Q. What’s your favorite cocktail?
A. Gin and tonic.
Q. What’s your most guilty pleasure?
A. Sitcoms… I once went through quite a few episodes of Arrested Development in a staggeringly short period of time. I also read science fiction novels, particularly when I’m traveling.
Q. If you could go on one last journey, where would you go?
A. Madagascar.
Q. What music did you listen to today?
A. Country Western music on Pandora.
Q. What’s your favorite word?
A. Slake. To “slake” one’s thirst.
Q. What’s your most prized possession?
A. A commemorative coin from the opening of EuroDisneyland, which was issued only to people who were working there.
Q. Who is the one person, living or dead, with whom you’d like to have a beer?
A. Darwin. Although if I spoke Italian, Galileo would come in a close second.
Q. What’s something that very few people know about you?
A. I’ve been learning to play guitar.
Q. What’s the last thing that inspired you?
A. I just got off the phone with my sweetie and she always inspires me.
Q. How are you different from ten years ago?
A. I am more patient than I used to be.
Q. What’s your biggest weakness?
A. I can still be impatient.
Q. What promise have you made to yourself that you break the most often?
A. I don’t practice [guitar] as much as I would like to.
Q. What do you find beautiful?
A. Mostly animals and plants. What really gets me are the colors and the behaviors of the natural world.
To read more about the lecture, click here.
*Photo by Aaron Salcido.