How can you convince other people to agree with you? How can we make ourselves less likely to be swayed by the Dark Arts persuasion of others? And, of course, what are the ethical issues involved with all of this?

If you're the sort of person who finds these questions interesting, feel free to join us tonight as Jesse Galef discusses the psychology research on persuasion and its ethical implications. Meetup starts at 7pm, talk starts at 7:30pm.

Cambridge/Boston-area Less Wrong Wednesday meetups are once a month on the last Wednesday at 7pm at Citadel (98 Elm St Apt 1 Somerville, near Porter Square). All other meetups are on Sundays.

Our default schedule is as follows:

—Phase 1: Arrival, greetings, unstructured conversation.

—Phase 2: The headline event. This starts promptly at 7:30pm, and lasts 30-60 minutes.

—Phase 3: Further discussion. We'll explore the ideas raised in phase 2, often in smaller groups.