We had our largest crowd to date on Tuesday September 13, 2011 for our discussion group topic, “Can We “Feel the Future?”  Evidence, Arguments and Implications” – presented by Dr. Keith Lyle.

Dr. Lyle shared with us two experiments developed by a  psychological scientist named Daryl Bem of Cornell University.  Dr. Bem’s results were published in a remarkable paper claiming that people’s behavior in the present is partially determined by events that have not happened yet.  In other words, people can allegedly “feel the future” by some unknown mechanism.  Dr. Lyle discussed the evidence for the claim (including some from his own research), the arguments that have sprung up around it, and the implications if it is true.

Keith B. Lyle is Assistant Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Louisville.  He earned his B.S. from Indiana University, his M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University, and he was a post-doctoral research fellow at Washington University in St. Louis.  In addition to his faculty duties at UofL, he occasionally consults on criminal cases involving eyewitness memory.

Thanks to Dr. Lyle for sharing this intriquing information with LES!
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