This episode explores social interactions and group behavior with our guest, Dr. Michael Platt.  We discuss the concept of collective effervescence, the impact of virtual interactions, and human resilience.

Dr. Michael Platt currently serves as the director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative and a professor for the Perelman School of Medicine, Wharton School of Business, and the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. He is well known for asking some of the most challenging questions in neuroscience - focusing on biological mechanisms that underlie decision-making in social environments. Dr. Platt received his B.A at Yale and his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, both in anthropology, and did a post-doctoral fellowship in neuroscience at New York University. He is winner of a MERIT award from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Williams Faculty Research Prize in the Duke University School of Medicine, and was an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow. Dr. Platt is an editor of major textbooks in neuroscience and cognitive neuroscience, and he is a former president of the Society for Neuroeconomics. He is the former Director of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, former Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University, and founding Co-Director of the Duke Center for Neuroeconomic Studies. Dr. Platt's work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, the Guardian, and National Geographic, as well as on ABC’s Good Morning America, NPR, CBC, BBC, and MTV.