On the nights of Wednesday, November 8 and Friday, November 10, Parker was swarming with lines of people eagerly waiting for the next lecture. People were picking up tickets and checking in at the entrance to the auditorium. Greeters led them to their seats. This was the annual Chicago Humanities Festival, this year titled “FallFest/17 Belief.”

Every year, Parker hosts The Chicago Humanities Festival, and this year’s fall festival began on October 28 and ran through November 12. The mission of the festival is to bring ideas to people that provoke discussion and thought. I attended the events on November 8 and November 10. The November 8 event, held from 6 to 7 p.m., featured Robert Shiller, a world renown economist. November 10, also from 6 to 7, was for Reza Aslan and his discussion of the idea of God.

With a full house in the auditorium on the 9th, people eagerly waited to hear Shiller, Professor of Economics at Yale University. Shiller won the 2013 Nobel Prize for Economics. He is also the co-creator of the Case-Shiller Index of U.S. home prices, which tracks house sales and prices for the United States. He entered the spotlight on the dark stage and discussed how beliefs and narrative affect our economy.

Aiming to educate the audience about how human psychology drives the economy. Shiller presented in an animated way with humor. His voice was warm and engaging as he attempted to bring in the audience with his conversational tone. He looked out into the massive audience and tried to connect with them. Most were engaged, smiling and laughing.

Shiller’s examples of narrative were intriguing. He discussed Hugh Hefner’s tendency to wear pajamas out in public and how that went viral. Also, he retold a time when he was at LAX, and someone thought there was a terrorist attack, which caused a domino effect. Again, fear went viral. These examples went to show that narratives have a lasting impact that affects people’s actions and, consequently, the economy.

On a cold Friday evening, people lined up to hear Aslan, the bestselling author and producer of such. He discussed our challenge in understanding faith and the idea of God,  using visuals to show the history of faith dating back to early humans.

Several people around me were furiously taking notes and sitting on the edges of their seats as he explained that religion is a neurological response and that people project images of themselves onto what they view as God. Belief, he said, is a mirror of ourselves.