It turns out your conscious mind - the part you think of as you - is really the smallest part of what’s happening in your brain, and usually the last one in line to find out any information.
David EaglemanRead
The three-pound organ in your skull - with its pink consistency of Jell-o - is an alien kind of computational material. It is composed of miniaturized, self-configuring parts, and it vastly outstrips anything we've dreamt of building.
Interpretation
The brain is an incredibly complex and advanced organ that exceeds human engineering capabilities.
David Eagleman highlights the astonishing complexity and functionality of the human brain, comparing it to a computational material that is not only self-configuring but also surpasses any technology created by humans. This quote emphasizes the brain's unique attributes and its role as an extraordinary organ in human existence.
In practice
In a neuroscience lecture when discussing the advanced capabilities of the brain.
It turns out your conscious mind - the part you think of as you - is really the smallest part of what’s happening in your brain, and usually the last one in line to find out any information.
The conscious mind is not at the center of the action in the brain; instead, it is far out on a distant edge, hearing but whispers of the activity.
You´re not perceiving what's out there. You're perceiving whatever your brain tells you.
The scientific observer of Nature is a kind of mystic seeker in the act of prayer.
Probability theory is nothing but common sense reduced to calculation.
According to inflation, the more than 100 billion galaxies, sparkling throughout space like heavenly diamonds, are nothing but quantum mechanics writ large across the sky. To me, this realization is one of the greatest wonders of the modern scientific age.
Traditionally, scientists have treated the laws of physics as simply 'given,' elegant mathematical relationships that were somehow imprinted on the universe at its birth, and fixed thereafter. Inquiry into the origin and nature of the laws was not regarded as a proper part of science.
I don't believe in technological determinism, especially not in biology and medicine. We have strong laws to keep doctors from monkeying around with humans that will remain in place. It's simply not true that everything that is technologically possible gets done.
Many people have the impression that there is significant scientific disagreement about global climate change. It's time to lay that misapprehension to rest. There is a scientific consensus on the fact that Earth's climate is heating up and human activities are part of the reason. We need to stop repeating nonsense about the uncertainty of global warming and start talking seriously about the right approach to address it.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.