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Social Science
A Sip of Conflict
Would you, could you, will you drink from a water fountain fashioned from an actual—but unused—toilet? Porcelain is just porcelain . . . right?
Where: Crossroads: Getting Started
Collaborative Shapes
Work together to make a shape–with your eyes closed.
Where: This exhibit is not currently on view.
Color Conflicts
When can reading get in the way of speaking?
Freeloader
Your dilemma: Play for yourself—or for the group?
Human Phenomena Explainer Station
Explainers do social interaction demonstrations.
Making Meaning
Discuss your interpretations of these words and images.
Mood Lighting
Sit down in a cozy chair and bathe your brain in a bubble of color of your choosing, dialing up anything from amber to violet. As you spend a few moments with each color, you may feel a shift in your own emotional hue.
Where: This exhibit is not currently on view.
Pulling Together
Do you work your hardest when you’re working with others? Does it make a difference if other people can see how hard you’re working? Grab a rope, get ready to pull, and experience the phenomenon of social loafing firsthand.
Where: This exhibit is not currently on view.
Red Phone
Want to see what's inside? You'll need help!
Where: This exhibit is not currently on view.
Red/Blue
Even randomly formed groups can generate instant rivalries.
Sharing Faces
Sit down at this new-media exhibit and you'll see someone else's face looking back at you. When you move around or make a face, your movements and expressions are matched by images of countless others who have done the same thing.
Where: This exhibit is not currently on view.
Sip or Squirt
This two-person drinking fountain was inspired by the Prisoner's Dilemma, a famous paradox of game theory: Do you choose to sacrifice your companion—and to some degree yourself—rather than risk being a trusting chump?
Where: This exhibit is not currently on view.
Sort and Switch
See how fast you can assign words to categories–then switch sides and try it again. Do you notice a difference?
Survival Game
Players struggle to keep their livestock herds alive and thriving—despite disease, drought, and other dangers. When your neighbor suffers a major loss, the question arises: Can you afford to share? But the real question may be, can you afford not to?
Text Fish
Manage an ocean ecosystem. Will you help maintain the fish population or just catch as much as you can? Here you’ll get a clear picture of a phenomenon known as the tragedy of the commons—overexploitation of shared resources—and a chance to rethink social strategies after an environmental catastrophe.
Where: This exhibit is not currently on view.
Time to Think
At this exhibit, you can test your reaction time in three different scenarios—each requiring an increasing amount of thought. In the process, you can actually measure the time it takes your brain to accomplish the extra work of making a (fast) decision.
Where: Crossroads: Getting Started
Unseen Stories
The people we pass by on the street have stories to tell—and so do we. Slow down your thinking and consider these questions: What do people assume about me based on how I look, talk, dress, or carry myself? What do I assume about others, and what might the real story be?
Where: This exhibit is not currently on view.
