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Kurt Gray

About

Kurt Gray is a professor of social psychology at UNC Chapel Hill who received his PhD from Harvard University and is the author, together with his late mentor Dan Wegner, of The Mind Club: Who Thinks, What Feels and Why it Matters.

He studies mind perception and morality, pondering such questions as "what is the nature of good and evil," "can we ever truly know ourselves," "why are humanoid robots so creepy," and "what makes grandma's cooking taste so good?" (The answers, by the way, are "salvation and suffering," "probably not," "dead eyes," and "love.")

He was almost a geophysicist instead of a social psychologist, but a cold night stranded and stalked by lynx in Northern Alberta convinced him otherwise. He firmly believes that one shouldn't take themselves too seriously, even when exploring serious issues of the human condition.

He is the winner of multiple awards including the APS Janet Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Research and the SPSP Theoretical Innovation Award. He lives in Carrboro with his wife and two cats Chas and Cleo, to whom he attributes far too much mind.

Books by Kurt Gray
Recent Posts
God and Goats: The Universal Human Need to Blame

When tragedy occurs, people need to cast blame. When no person is available to take the fall, people look for something else, sometimes finding livestock, but more often finding God. This need for blame can help explain our belief in God, with research suggesting that the more people suffer, the more they believe in the Almighty.

When tragedy occurs, people need to cast blame. When no person is available to take the fall, people look for something else, sometimes finding livestock, but more often finding God. This need for blame can help explain our belief in God, with research suggesting that the more people suffer, the more they believe in the Almighty.

Shrieking or Stoic?: What You Should Do if Tortured

A new study from Harvard University suggests that torture may not uncover guilt so much as lead to its perception. The key is how much pain the torture victim appears to feel.

A new study from Harvard University suggests that torture may not uncover guilt so much as lead to its perception. The key is how much pain the torture victim appears to feel.