The Brain: The Story of You

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This area is so highly speculative that there is almost no research that sheds light on it, but I can understand how the producers of the program thought this would be a good hook for people who wonder about the Singularity. Our brain does a great job of filtering, editing and adapting the sensory input we obtain, so that we get a picture of reality that is censored, based on what we need to know for survival and what the brain already knows.

BBC Four - The Brain with David Eagleman - Episode guide BBC Four - The Brain with David Eagleman - Episode guide

One thing in conclusion - my review contains only the bare bones of the book. I have left out the various real-world examples Eagleman uses to bolster his arguments, for fear of bloating it up. These examples are actually the most endearing part of the book. The audiobook version I have is also read by the author; which is a nice touch that I always appreciate. So what is reality? It’s like a television show that only you can see, and you can’t turn it off. The good news is that it happens to be broadcasting the most interesting show you could ask for: edited, personalized, and presented just for you.The author then explains how we experience reality and how the brain processes inputs from different senses, processing only the minimal amount needed for us to navigate the world. Our drive to come together into groups yields a survival advantage — but it has a dark side. For every in-group, there must exist at least one outgroup

Book Review: The Brain: The Story of You by David Eagleman Book Review: The Brain: The Story of You by David Eagleman

What does your brain need to function normally? Beyond the nutrients from the food you eat, beyond the oxygen you breathe, beyond the water you drink, there’s something else, something equally as important: it needs other people. Normal brain function depends on the social web around us. Our neurons require other people’s neurons to thrive and survive.In summary, this book exemplifies my love for science. Eagleman is a master of his craft and a skilled writer. He covers complex topics on the neuroscience with ease and provides the general public with an appetizer of knowledge. Neuroscience is a fascinating field in it is infancy and Eagleman successfully whets the public’s interest. I highly recommend it! So not only was it possible to implant false new memories in the brain, but people embraced and embellished them, unknowingly weaving fantasy into the fabric of their identity.” An interesting look at willpower. “…willpower isn’t something that we just exercise – it’s something we deplete.” This understanding is critical to understanding our history. All across the globe, groups of people repeatedly inflict violence on other groups, even those that pose no direct threat. The year 1915 saw the systematic killing of more than a million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks. In 1994, over a period of 100 days, the Hutus in Rwanda killed 800,000 Tutsis, mostly with machetes. It simply means I've been reading a lot of brain books in recent years (and writing articles about the research), so I was eager to see how one of my favorite neuroscientists, David Eagleman, did on this companion book to his PBS series.

Book extract: ‘The Brain: The Story of You’, by David Eagleman

A look at the future of neuroscience. “The secret to understanding our success – and our future opportunity – is the brain’s tremendous ability to adjust, known as brain plasticity.”Actually, grouping together is advantageous from the evolutionary point of view. But the flip side is that the "ingroups" creates "outgroups" out of necessity (a fact that Desmond Morris has also touched upon, in The Human Zoo: A Zoologist's Study of the Urban Animal) and this is the beginning of conflict. And outgroups can be objectified and dehumanised through propaganda - in the worst case, leading to genocide. Our perception of reality has less to do with what’s happening out there, and more to do with what’s happening inside our brain. Your” However, people still co-operate irrespective of kinship. That observation leads to the idea of “group selection”. If a group is composed entirely of people who co-operate, everyone in the group will be better off for it. On average, you’ll fare better than other people who aren’t very co-operative with their neighbours. Together, the members of a group can help each other to survive.