Why We Love the Joker: The Science of Charismatic Villains

Why do villains often feel more fascinating than heroes? Why are chaos, darkness, and broken rules so attractive — even if we’d never admit it out loud?
In this session, we’ll explore charismatic villains and what our attraction to them reveals about the human mind.

Key discussion points:

Impulse without limits: why villains act on what we repress.
Anti-boredom and dopamine chaos.
The appeal of competence: when intelligence overshadows morality.
Honest monsters vs “good” hypocrisy.
The shadow side of personality — and why we’re drawn to it.

Alex Pratt

GUEST SPEAKER

PhD in Psychology. While holding the title of Associate Professor, Alex spent years working in the trenches of human psyche: from the city's Anti-Crisis Service to consulting for Narcology units, Military Courts and Police investigations. He didn’t just study deviation from a textbook, he sat across the table from it. He specializes in the dark side of personality and knows exactly why we are secretly attracted to chaos

Meeting details

Thursday, January 8^th
from 7:00 to 8:20 PM
Youth Center,
2^ndfloor, room "Tochka rosta"

9 Navaginskaya St. (entrance from the Trade Gallery)
Free of charge
Have your identity document with you
According to the new rules of the Youth Center, only young people between 14 and 35 years of age can visit the facility and participate in its events, in accordance with the Federal Law No. 489 “On Youth Policy in the Russian Federation”

Where to go

On the map

Registration

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