The Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh invites you to join us for our Lunch Time Talk. \;Attend in person at 1117 Cathedral of Learning or visit our live stream on YouTube at \;https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg.
\nLunch Time Talk: \; \;Laurenz Casser
\nTuesday\, March 24th @ 12:00 pm \;- \;1:30 pm \;EST
\nTitle: \; \;Hot to the Touch and Chilled to the Bone
\nAbstract:
\nIn 1896\, the Swedish physiologist Torsten Thunberg reported a curious discovery: when he touched a grid of alternating warm and cold brass pipes\, the sensations of warmth and cold on his hand somehow &lsquo\;fused together&rsquo\; into a &lsquo\;special sensation of heat&rsquo\; &mdash\; a sensation that many experimental subjects since then have described as painful. Since the 1990s\, this so-called &lsquo\;thermal grill illusion&rsquo\; (TGI) has become the conventional method of investigating &lsquo\;illusory pain&rsquo\;\, and is said to hold important insights for our understanding of the bodily senses and clinical pain pathologies. However\, what exactly these insights are meant to be remains largely unclear: indeed\, after more than a century of scientific interest in Thunberg&rsquo\;s discovery\, the sensory fusion he described is about as puzzling as ever. In this talk\, I aim to articulate why the thermal grill illusion is a puzzle worth caring about\, why it has been so difficult to solve\, and what\, if anything\, we can learn from putting our hand on a grill.
\nThis talk will be available online:
\nZoom: \;https://pitt.zoom.us/j/99040150880
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YouTube: \;https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg