Why does losing $10 hurt roughly twice as much as gaining $10 feels good? This talk explores “loss aversion” — one of the most robust and surprising findings in behavioral economics. Drawing on fMRI studies, patients with amygdala damage, capuchin monkeys, and more, the lecture shows how different regions of the brain encode gains and losses, and how emotion, not just cold calculation, creates our aversion to loss. Along the way, we’ll learn about casino gamblers who only quit when they break even, marathoners who speed up near a round-number finishing time, stock traders who cling to losers and dump winners too soon, and taxpayers who file returns owing zero tax. The talk also shows some forces that reduce loss aversion — beta-blockers, brain damage, having low cognitive skill, and simply learning to “think like a trader.
Colin F. Camerer is and Robert Kirby Professor of Behavioral Economics at Caltech. He is a behavioral economist with the goal of improving the economic analysis of decisions, games, and markets. He uses methods from psychology and neuroscience, including eye-tracking, lesion patients, EEG, fMRI, wearable sensors, machine learning, and animal behavior. His recent research has focused on visual salience and habits. Camerer received his BA in quantitative studies from Johns Hopkins University, and he holds an MBA in finance and a PhD in decision theory both from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the Econometric Society, and fellow of the Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory.
Camerer was president of the Society for Neuroeconomics from 2005 to 2006, president of the Economic Science Association from 2001 to 2003, and he has served on many editorial boards. He has been chair of the Russell Sage Foundation Behavioral Economics Roundtable since 2007. He has one patent accepted on “Active Learning Decision Engines.” Camerer was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2013, and he received an honorary doctorate from the Stockholm School of Economics in 2019.
Reserve your FREE TICKETS to this community lecture via the Lensic Box Office. This lecture will also be streamed on SFI's Youtube page.
The 2026 Community Lecture Series is generously underwritten by the McKinnon Family Foundation, with additional support from the Santa Fe Reporter and the Lensic Performing Arts Center.