Can an aversion to eating insects build connections with others? In this talk, Cindy D. Kam discusses our relationship with the emotion of disgust in decision-making. She discusses the hidden power of disgust to protect us and connect us with others, but also warns about its kryptonite: its reliance on imagination. Cindy D. Kam received a PhD in Political Science from the University of Michigan and currently holds the William R. Kenan, Jr. Chair in Political Science at Vanderbilt University. As a political psychologist, Professor Kam uses a psychological lens to understand how people develop political opinions and why they engage in political action. She is the author of two books (Us Against Them: Ethnocentric Foundations of American Public Opinion and Modeling and Interpreting Interactive Hypotheses in Regression Analysis) and dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles. Kam’s published research examines the impacts of a wide range of psychological phenomena - including intergroup attitudes, cognitive engagement, risk propensity, implicit associations, and disgust sensitivity - on public opinion, vote choice, turnout, political participation, and political consumerism. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx