Hjernevask
Norwegian popular science documentary series
Hjernevask ("Brainwash") is a Norwegian documentary miniseries about science that aired on NRK1 in 2010. The series, consisting of seven episodes, was created for NRK and presented by the comedian and sociologist Harald Eia.
The series contrasted cultural determinist models of human behavior (also referred to as the Standard social science model) with nature-nurture interactionist perspectives. In support of the cultural determinist perspective it interviewed mainly Norwegian humanities scholars, in particular literary theorist Jørgen Lorentzen at the Centre for Gender Research. Experts interviewed for the series in support of a nature-nurture interactionist perspective included Simon Baron-Cohen, Steven Pinker, Simon LeVay, David Buss, Glenn Wilson, Robert Plomin and Anne Campbell. This ignited a wide public discussion on the subject of the nature versus nurture debate, and especially focused on the views expressed by Lorentzen. The entire series has since been released online.
Objectives and awards
Eia and coproducer Ole Martin Ihle have named Steven Pinker's book The Blank Slate as an inspiration for the documentary series. The series was a huge success, and Eia was awarded the Fritt Ord Award for "having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times".
Episodes
The producers have made the series available online.
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