Human 5: Professor Kristen Pammer

Head of Psychology at The University of Newcastle

Kristen is the head of Psychology at the University of Newcastle. She is an Experimental Psychologist with a diverse research career spanning visual attention, language, hazard detection in driving, situational awareness, dyslexia, reading, and indigenous literacy. Despite being an academic all her life, she loves exercising her creative side, even though she isn’t very good at it (her words, not mine) - at the moment she is renovating a vintage caravan.

Over the years, I’ve been lucky to have had a handful of people who have genuinely impacted my life. Kristen is one of them. I am very grateful our paths crossed.

Kristen is a human mammal. Here are her thoughts:

What brings you the most joy in life?

My family and friends - especially my children, who I don’t see nearly enough anymore. Actually, thinking about this, I particularly enjoy hearing my daughters talk about their lives – one daughter is studying law and the other is a nurse, I love listening to them talk about what they are learning and doing at work. It makes me feel that I must have done something OK to have given the world to these two amazing people.

What does success mean to you?

I think success is a retrospective thing - if you suddenly find yourself on your deathbed and you have no regrets, you are happy with what you have achieved, seen and done, and you are not alone… then you have had a successful life.

What are you most grateful for?

My family, the opportunity to be whoever I wanted to be in life, and that I have robust physical and mental health.

Who or what has had the biggest influence on your life? 

Probably my parents - for good or bad they very much shaped me and instilled my core values.

What do you regret?

In general, my regrets are personal ones - things that I wished I had done differently regarding the people I care about. 

What advice would you give your younger self?

Pull your head in and grow up! (I think I got there in the end, but it took a while).

What do you doubt most?

Me.

When did you last change your mind?

Oh dear god, all the time. I used to think that it was a sign of weakness, but in the end, I would rather change my mind when presented with new/different information than pig-headedly stick to something that I know is wrong.

What is the role of luck in our lives?

I think luck plays a huge role – being in the right place at the right time, making decision A rather than decision B. Having said that, it is not all about luck. Luck is most effective when there is a sound foundation. I was not ‘lucky’ to be in my current position - I worked very hard for it, but there were some decisions that depended on the flip of a coin along the way!

Do you have a favourite quote? What is it? Why do you like it?

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference” Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken (1915).

For me, it is about being adventurous, courageous and curious, taking opportunities and never making the easy decision just because it is easy. I have always tried to make the more ‘interesting’ choice, even if it seemed hard or crazy at the time - and that has made all the difference.

What would you do with your life if you had unlimited financial resources?

OMG - I would open a research institute, bringing together some of the cutting-edge neurophysiological technologies to understand brain processes and mechanisms.

If you could have the definitive answer to a single question, what would you ask?

I don’t think I can answer this… there are too many questions that I would like answers to. 

What concept/fact/idea should every human on the planet understand?

Compassion.

Should we think of morality in relative or absolute terms?

It has to be in relative terms. Like all complex concepts it is not black and white. I consider myself a moral person, yet I have made decisions that have gone against my values in order to maintain a ‘greater good’. 

Do human beings have free will?

Yes, but the exercise of that free will is vastly constrained by circumstance and context. 

Do you believe in God?

No, but I believe in a sense of universal connectedness that might be spirituality. I also believe in other people’s beliefs. I don’t believe in heaven and hell, but I did hear someone once saying that heaven and hell is the way that you are remembered when you are dead - I believe that.

Could we be living in a simulated universe?

Why not! There is absolutely no reason why I am not the figment of someone else’s imagination given the sense of free will and personality. It is a hypothesis that is impossible to disprove. 

Will the continual development of technology have a net positive or negative influence on humanity?

I think that depends on how we manage it, and in a way it is a moot point. Human beings are intelligent, curious, inventive creatures - that’s what makes us human. You can’t remove the striving for technological solutions from our basic ‘humanness’. I like to believe that we have learned a lot through the various technological revolutions to date - hopefully this allows us to make smarter decisions for how we direct and use future technologies.

What is the single greatest achievement of humanity?

Literacy. Literacy leads to education and education gives us freedom.

What do you see as the biggest existential threat to humanity?

Us - we are our biggest physical and existential threat.

What is a good death?

One that is fast and unexpected.

Thanks for your time, Kristen!

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