Unlikely Collaborators Spark Salon with Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD

Are You a Spectator to Reality? Or Are You Its Creator? with Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD

In this provocative Spark Salon, neuroscientist and best-selling author Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD, invites us to rethink everything we believe about perception, emotion, and reality itself. Drawing on groundbreaking neuroscience, she reveals that we don’t perceive reality in a more or less objective way. Reality exists only in relation to us. Every sound, color, and feeling is an act of construction by the brain, shaped by culture, context, and memory. Through vivid examples, from a falling tree to a racing heart, Dr. Barrett shows that signals from the world and body have no inherent meaning until the brain processes them. What we experience as reality is a story our brains are constantly writing. Ultimately, she challenges us to recognize that we are not spectators of reality but its architects, with the power to expand our agency, reshape meaning, and reimagine what it means to be fully human.

In person attendees will receive a complimentary book.

6:00pm: Doors open, reception

7:00pm: Program begins promptly

8:00pm: Book signing & reception

Barrett is the author of these popular books, available for purchase at your favorite book retailer.