March 13, 2018

Secret Science Club presents Social Neuroscientist Jay Van Bavel on “Our Partisan Brains” Monday, March 19, 8PM @ the Bell House, FREE!

Jay Van Bavel is a social neuroscientist who explores the tribal tendencies in all of us. Lately he has been looking at political groups and partisanship in particular. Can our political ideologies influence not only how we vote, but also how we perceive reality?

At the next Secret Science Club, we explore:
  • What is the social brain and how did it evolve?
  • Are some people more genetically disposed to be “groupish” than others?
  • How does the social brain affect decision-making—at both conscious and unconscious levels?
  • What does neuroscience have to say about how our political ideologies originate?
  • What conditions cause rival groups to work together? What drives groups farther apart?
Jay Van Bavel is associate professor of psychology & neural science at NYU and director of the Social Perception and Evaluation Lab. His research examines how collective concerns—group identities, moral values, and political ideologies—can shape even the most basic elements of perception and evaluation. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Scientific American, Wall Street Journal, Quartz, and Washington Post.

Before & After
--Try our cocktail of the night, the Dark & Brain Stormy
--Groove to synapse-synching tunes
--Stick around for the cogent Q&A

This mind-bending edition of the Secret Science Club meets Monday, March 19, 8 pm @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Subway: F or G to 4th Ave; R to 9th Street.

Doors open at 7:30 pm. Please bring ID: 21+. No cover. Just bring your smart self!