A great conference coming up on the 2nd and 3rd of December 2009 in Sydney, Australia: Mind and Its Potential. The Dalai Lama, Paul Ekman and Martin Seligman are the really big names, and then people like Susan Greenfield, Marc Hauser, Natasha Mitchell and many more fill a long list of “extraordinary speakers.”

The conference is premised on this theme:

Science is only just beginning to understand the extraordinary capacity of the brain to change and develop. The implications for how we learn, work and care for one another are profound. Here is your opportunity to hear the world’s top scientists, psychologists and philosophers explain how to apply the new science of the brain in education, medicine, business and your life.

The conference really emphasizes the following: “Practical applications of the new science of the brain: How do we learn? How do we teach? How do we overcome adversity and disability? How should we live our lives? Find out the implications for education, health care, business and your life!”

The first day of the conference really emphasizes plasticity and learning as fundamental to both understanding neural function and how we deal with issues like education, parenting, and exercise. The second day features the Dalai Lama and Martin Seligman discussing human flourishing and spirituality, ethics and morality in the morning, and then emotions and more in the afternoon. You can access the overall prorgam here.

There are also pre- and post-conference workshops with leaders in the field, as well as a Mindfest Festival that will be hosted outside the main auditorium during the conference.

For more information and to register, you can visit the Mind and Its Potential conference website.