To the extent that consciousness is useful, it is useful in small quantities, and for very particular kinds of tasks. It's easy to understand why you would not want to be consciously aware of the intricacies of your muscle movement, but this can be less intuitive when applied to your perceptions, thoughts, and beliefs, which are also final products of the activity of billions of nerve cells.
From the Blog
-
The Neuroscience of Engagement
Why don't we do what we know we should? Here's a talk I gave at Stanford Medical School telling why, and what to do about it.
-
British musician Jarvis Cocker reads from Sum
Hear British rocker Jarvis Cocker read the short story "Descent of Species" from Sum.
-
Scanning a 3,000 year old mummy
I performed a CT scan on an Egyptian mummy, and found beautiful objects inside.
-
Possibilianism at PopTech
I spoke at PopTech on the limits of science, the problems of false dichotomies, and my new movement of possibilianism. See the video.
In other news...
Eagleman TED Talk
See David Eagleman's TED talk entitled "Can we create new senses for humans?"
Why Brain Science Matters
Why should the US invest in brain science? See David's opinion in the New York Times.
SUM is Book of the Year: Chicago Tribune
SUM was chosen as the best book of 2009 by Chicago Tribune's Pulitzer-winning literary critic Julia Keller.
