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
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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.
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The Umwelt
The "umwelt" is the slice of an animal's ecosystem that it can sense. The rest is invisible....
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Schwarzenegger on Incognito
What a wonderful shot of caffeine it was to find my childhood hero lauding my book in the New York Times.
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Love Italo Calvino? Me too. Listen to a BBC Radio documentary.
I hosted a BBC radio documentary to explore the imagination of one of Italy's foremost writers, Italo Calvino.
In other news...
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.
Synesthesia book wins the Montaigne Medal
Wednesday is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia has been awarded the Montaigne Medal, Eric Hoffer Award for Books.
BrainCheck: A Simple Way to Track Brain Health
Interested in seeing your brain health data? Eagleman's BrainCheck has quick tests you can take anywhere to assess brain function. Sign up for free.
