Exploratorium After Dark: Fear

What are you afraid of? Spiders? Earthquakes? Things that go bump in the night? Or something more social, like saying the wrong thing, looking like a fool, getting hurt by someone you trust? Or are all fears simply masks for the big fear-the great unknown beyond the veil of death?

Fear is often called a basic human emotion, and it clearly has a biological component. Neuroscientists might describe it as a chain reaction in your brain that starts with a stressful event and leads to a chemical release-launching you into a run, a scream, or a call to 911. Evolutionary biologists might think of it as a mechanism that keeps you alive long enough to reproduce.

But we also learn to be afraid-from our parents, friends, and cultures. And while fear protects us from injury, it can also be addictive: we watch horror films, tell ghost stories, ride roller coasters, even jump from airplanes. Our fears make us unique: some of us would rather run into a burning building or swim with sharks than give a speech in front of a crowd.

Tonight, through film, exhibits, and special activities, we'll play with fear: its effects on perception, its links with pleasure, and the ways in which fears can be manipulated for good or ill. Phobias, the fight vs. flight response, the effects of fear on bodies and brains… all are fair game. Confront your fears at the Exploratorium-it could change your view of what it means to be afraid.

Experience life After Dark, an evening series exclusively for adults that mixes cocktails, conversation, and playful, innovative science and art events. Not a theater, cabaret, or gallery, After Dark contains aspects of all three. Each evening showcases a different topic-from music to sex to electricity-but all include a cash bar and film screenings, plus an opportunity to play with our hundreds of hands-on exhibits. Join us and mingle with inventive scientists, artists, musicians, programmers, and designers. Enjoy live performances, provocative films, interesting music, cutting-edge technology, unexpected extravaganzas, and more, depending on each evening's lineup. Leave the kids at home and meet friends or take a date. Where else can you find an intellectually stimulating playground for adults-with free parking?

This event is included in the price of museum admission.  18 and over only.