Theme: Eidemic: Thinking Is Contagious

Our theme this year, Eidemic: Thinking Is Contagious, looks to address the TED motto of "ideas worth spreading." What makes an idea worth spreading and, more importantly, how exactly does an idea spread? Once an idea is conceived and shared, how is it transmitted from person to another? Why do some ideas so quickly and so easily disseminate while others simply dissipate? We are sure that these questions can be answered from a perspective based in neurology or psychology. However, we hope to solve these problems from a more abstract and even philosophical perspective, one that covers a wide range of disciplines. Thus we began looking at ideas, thoughts, and concepts, due to their communicable nature, as viruses, infections, and contagions. We formulated the word eidemic - a portmanteau of eidetic and epidemic - in hopes of describing this remarkable phenomenon: how thoughts can spread as if they were contagious. We hope that this theme provides an avenue for our speakers to share their unique ideas in a way that draws connections with other speakers and keeps our audience thinking long after the conference is over.

McMaster Innovation Park
175 Longwood Road South
Hamilton, Ontario, L8P0A1
Canada