It’s been quite a month for Intelligence2. On November 1st Canadian Cognitive Scientist Steven Pinker, ‘the optimistic voice of science’, told a sell-out Royal Geographical Society that humans are becoming less, not more, violent. Then to Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall on November 9th where Stephen Fry, Sean Penn, Salman Rushdie, Martin Amis and others discussed the life, loves and hates of their friend Christopher Hitchens.

And there’s more to come…

November 17, ‘Britain’s former colonies should stop blaming the empire for their ills’
Was our disregard for culture and local history to blame for subsequent tensions and wars within our former colonies? Or, is it all too easy for corrupt and unpopular leaders to use the Empire as a scapegoat for their failings? 60 years on, isn’t it time for our former colonies to take responsibility for themselves? Labour’s Tristram Hunt and the Tory Party’s Kwasi Kwarteng will lock horns in our debate. Cast your vote on November 17th.

19th November, Umberto Eco
The Piedmontese writer, philosopher, semiotician and critic will discuss writing fiction about the ‘real’, along with exploring the future of books and his (somewhat controversial) latest novel, ‘The Prague Cemetery’ with Paul Holdengräber, Director of LIVE at the New York Public Library.

25th and the 26th November, IQ2 If Conference
How will our homes, lives and cities be transformed by an urbanised, environmentally conscious and technologically empowered humanity? Watch more than 30 of Europe’s most far-sighted entrepreneurs, inventors and thinkers present their thoughts on the fundamental trends of our age. Buy a ticket to the future.

28th November: ‘Beware the Dragon: Africa Should Not Look to China’
Deborah Brautigam and SOAS’s Professor Steven Chan are set to spar over China’s expansion into Africa should be feared or welcomed. Are these neo-colonialists plundering resources with no regard for human rights? Or rather, are they building infrastructure that will lift the continent out of poverty? Decide on the 28th November: