#3 Nerd Nite Hamilton – 13th November, 2023
Talk #1: Energy is a Place Description
The electricity we use every day comes from specific places — the remote hydroelectric dams of Quebec, the nuclear plants on the shore of the Great Lakes, gas-burning peaker plants — and paying attention to those places can be instructive as we think through transitioning away from fossil fuels. This talk traces the electrical grids in Ontario and Quebec, considering how our energy regimes have been shaped by our cultural values. Also, I will try to convince you that it’s a good idea to drive out into the middle of nowhere and visit power plants (or at least visit McMaster’s nuclear reactor).
Speaker Info: Hillary Predko, MES is a writer and researcher who is interested in infrastructure and society. Her work covers energy, waste, manufacturing, and industrial policy. She is the deputy general manager of Scope of Work (www.scopeofwork.net) and co-author of Extracting Reconciliation: Indigenous Lands, (In)human Wastes, and Colonial Reckoning with Dr. Myra Hird.
Talk #2: Tripping on nothing: How much of the psychedelic experience is caused by the placebo effect?
Can you have a psychedelic experience from a placebo alone? Are the benefits of microdosing mostly placebo effects? This talk will describe the first study focusing on placebo psychedelics, in which our team set up an elaborate (but fake) psychedelic party. Using confederates, security guards, a dozen research assistants, and deception techniques used by magicians, we convinced university students that the placebo pills they consumed actually contained a psychedelic drug. The majority of participants reported experiencing effects of the drug, including seeing paintings on the wall move on their own, feeling lighter or heavier in the head, and being unable to understand words or speak. These findings can help explain the effects of microdosing, inform psychedelic study design, and demonstrate the power of suggestion.
Speaker Info: Dr. Jay Olson is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto Mississauga. He studies a range of topics across psychology and medicine including smartphone addiction, placebo effects, sleep, creativity, and psychedelic drugs. He did his previous graduate and postdoctoral training at McGill University and Harvard University.
Talk #3: Moral Injury: An Existential Wound and Crisis of Meaning Description
Moral injury describes the set of psychological symptoms resulting from traumatic experiences that violate one’s moral presuppositions (e.g., anger, guilt, and shame). Such disruption occurs when an individual encounters information from the environment that cannot be reconciled with the fundamental beliefs about the world (e.g., that the world and the self are fundamentally good). Towards this end, we will consider moral injury as a form of “Existential Wound” leading to a disruption in one’s ability to make sense (or meaning) of the world. We will present two case studies from our pilot work, which examines moral injury in first responders and victims of torture. Our argument will adapt the writings of existential philosophers such as Kierkegaard, and current computational models (can be removed if you don’t think it’s appropriate), to understand and overcome moral injury.
Speaker Info: Konstantinos Xanthios is a doctoral candidate in Developmental Psychology and Education. He is based at a lab within University of Toronto, and studies progress in the science of wisdom. His research focuses on using qualitative methods of investigating theoretical change across wisdom research traditions. Pouria Saffaran is a doctoral candidate in Developmental Psychology and Education, and is interested in investigating the impacts of PTSD and moral injury on individuals’ fundamental beliefs about the world.
#2 Nerd Nite Hamilton – 16th October, 2023
Nerd Nite Hamilton is back this October with a Halloween treat! We have 4 incredible talks lined up, exploring local history, famous ghostly (Hamilton) encounters, cutting-edge research on bats, and what neuroscience says about the benefits of horror movies for our mental health.
Talk #1: Spirits Having Stayed: Lost Between Cootes Paradise and Eternal Paradise
Tonight, I will cover a few brief stories on well-documented hauntings around Dundas – and some not so well-known. I have always been fascinated with ghosts, spirits, spectres, or whatever you want to call them in the afterlife for as long as I can remember. My family’s history is checkered with spooky experiences, including a few of my own. Throughout my twenty-four years living in Dundas, I have picked up a few Valley Town ghost tales, but I really went full-speed in 2000, when I was asked to conduct my very first Ghost Walk and Scavenger Haunt for the Dundas Museum & Archives. By the conclusion of those Walks on Halloween night 2000 (with a full moon and everything!), I had a whole casketful of stories! Tonight, I will enlighten you all about a few of these souls caught between Cootes and Eternal Paradise and perhaps after tonight, you will be encouraged to go spectre-seeking yourself – unless they find you first!
Speaker Info: Stan Nowak is a co-founder, first and current President of the Dundas Valley Historical Society and has lived in Dundas with wife Sally since 1999. Stan has also served on the Dundas Community Council as Heritage Rep since 2006 and has written contributions to nine books on Dundas heritage. Stan is also strongly opposed to the proposed development slated for 71 Main Street and would like to sincerely thank all who are involved in this battle for the preservation of our small-town ambience!
Talk #2: Horror Movies Can Be Good For Your Mental Health
Starting from new views of brain function, I will explore a few of the many reasons why we might be attracted to horrifying materials (e.g. books, movies, games, etc.). The answer turns out to be complex – with some forms of attraction leading to significant benefits for agents like us, while others are less adaptive and even potentially dangerous. Casting a light on the computational mechanisms underlying our experience of, and attraction to, horror can help tease apart these varying modes of attraction, and so help us better understand the value and dangers of horror.
Speaker Info: Mark Miller, Ph.D. is a philosopher and cognitive scientist. His research explores what recent advances in neuroscience can tell us about happiness and well-being, and what it means to live well in our increasingly technologically-mediated world. Mark is currently the senior research fellow at Monash University’s Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies, and a research fellow in the Psychology Department at the University of Toronto.
Talk #3: Haunted Hamilton
History, Ghosts & Haunted Places, Mobsters, Murderers & Femme-Fatales… HAMILTON has it ALL! Stephanie “Spooky Steph” Dumbreck will share some of Hamilton’s most famous haunted places. She will also share what it was like to spend the night at the Lizzie Borden house, stand in front of the infamous Amityville house, and even take bus loads of paranormal enthusiasts on overnight bus trips to haunted places all across America including jails, asylums and old forts! We will then open the floor for personal ghost stories and experiences.
Speaker Info: Stephanie “Spooky Steph” Lechiak is Founder & Owner of Haunted Hamilton, a strangely unique business that has operated Haunted Tours and Bus Trips to spooky locations all over Canada and the US for the past 17 years. Stephanie has devoted her career to educating, enthralling and entertaining guests young and old in all aspects of the paranormal. An Award-Winning Columnist (urbanicity magazine), an avid history enthusiast, Paranormal Investigator, TV personality, Radio Show Host, Event Planner, artist, and most of all, “Spooky Steph” (as she’s known to her fans) is just a girl devoted to exploring the unknown in search of that missing piece… why are we all here and where do we go after we die?
Talk #4: Development of Hearing and Echolocation in Bats
Did you know that bats are the world’s only flying mammals and that female bats give birth to live young and nurse their pups with milk, just like humans? Come see what baby bats look like at birth and how pups grow, develop, learn how to fly, and echolocate. Also learn how the hearing develops so pups can use echolocation to orient and find food. Enjoy a presentation by Paul Faure, a professor from McMaster University, who studies bats and founded Canada’s first and only captive breeding colony of bats for research
Speaker Info: Paul Faure Ph.D. is a neuroethologist. His research interests are in animal bioacoustics (echolocation calls and other vocalizations ), neural mechanisms of hearing (electrophysiology) and acoustically-evoked behaviour (e.g. acoustic startle response), and integrative physiology (i.e. hormones and reproduction, cutaneous wound healing).
Event takes place 7-9pm at Shawn & Eds Brewery Co. As always it will be pay-what-you-can at the door, with all money going to our local Routes Youth Centre. Be there and be square!
#1 Nerd Nite Hamilton – 11th September, 2023
Nerd Nite Hamilton is proud to announce our inaugural show, featuring 3 absolutely amazing talks by researchers who not only lead their field of study, but who are bloody interesting human beings. Get ready to learn about the nature of your experience, how future technologies might help (rather than destroy us), and how to live a more meaningful life. Be there and be square!
Talk #1: You’re Hallucinating All The Time, Now What?
Have you ever wondered how our perception of reality can sometimes play tricks on us? In this talk, Mark Miller will explore what the latest theories in computational neuroscience tell us about how our brains construct the world around us – and what the hell we are supposed to do about the fact that we are always hallucinating our reality!
Speaker Info: Mark Miller, Ph.D. is a philosopher and cognitive scientist. His research explores what recent advances in neuroscience can tell us about happiness and well-being, and what it means to live well in our increasingly technologically-mediated world. Mark is currently the senior research fellow at Monash University’s Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies, and a research fellow in the Psychology Department at the University of Toronto.
Talk #2: Tech’s New Frontier: Your Space Transformed
Imagine your home as not just walls and furniture, but a dynamic world of smart possibilities. Ambient Smart Environments (ASEs) are places where smart tech isn’t just a gadget – it’s woven into the very fabric of your surroundings, creating seamless, invisible interactions that anticipate your needs. In this talk Ben White will explore some of the expected dangers and unexpected benefits of ASEs. Brace yourself for a mind-bending journey where tech transforms not just your space, but how you navigate life itself.
Speaker Info: Ben White is a a Leverhulme-funded doctoral candidate at the University of Sussex (UK), where his research will focus on neuroscience and digital technology.
Talk #3: Navigating The Meaning Crisis
Join us for a thought-provoking journey as world renowned cognitive scientist John Vervaeke delves into ‘The Meaning Crisis.’ In this captivating talk, Vervaeke unpacks his groundbreaking ideas that explore the challenges our modern world faces in finding and cultivating deep meaning in life. Drawing from psychology, philosophy, and cognitive science, he’ll illuminate the reasons behind the crisis and guide us toward a deeper understanding of how to navigate the complexities of meaning, purpose, and fulfillment. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain new insights into the fundamental questions that shape our existence.
Speaker Info: John Vervaeke, Ph.D. is an award-winning lecturer at the University of Toronto in Psychology, Cognitive Science and Buddhist Psychology. His academic interests include wisdom, mindfulness, meditation, relevance realization, general intelligence, and rationality. He is the author of Awakening from the Meaning Crisis Youtube series and co-author of Zombies in Western Culture: A 21st Century Crisis.
Event takes place 7-9pm at Shawn & Eds Brewery Co. As always it will be pay-what-you-can at the door, with all money going to our local Routes Youth Centre. Be there and be square!
Welcome to Nerd Nite Hamilton: Where Curiosity and Geekiness Unite!
Calling all curious minds, philosophy enthusiasts, and science geeks – get ready for a night of intellectual revelry like never before! Nerd Nite Hamilton is back with a bang, bringing you an electrifying event that celebrates all things nerdy and intellectually stimulating.
Events take place the second Monday of the month (more or less), 7-9pm at Shawn & Eds Brewery Co. As always it will be pay-what-you-can at the door, with all money going to our local Routes Youth Centre. Be there and be square!