When computer scientist, bitcoin expert and noted hacker Emin Gün Sirer gave a public talk as a visiting scholar at UC Santa Barbara, the room was packed with engineers, rapt at attention. No surprise there, except maybe when considering the event’s host: the campus’s SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind.

Mention of the word “mind” in an academic context typically evokes psychology, neuroscience, maybe medicine. But there is nothing typical about this center, where flipping the script is the driving principle and cross-disciplinary conversation is key. When the goal is to elucidate the entire spectrum of mind-related research, comingling across seemingly vast scholarly plains is not only encouraged — it’s crucial for success.