If you ever feel lazy or dull, take heart: you're the busiest, brightest thing on the planet. David Eagleman More Quotes by David Eagleman More Quotes From David Eagleman In the traditionally taught view of perception, data from the sensorium pours into the brain, works its way up the sensory hierarchy, and makes itself seen, heard, smelled, tasted, felt - "perceived." But a closer examination of the data suggests this is incorrect. The brain is properly thought of as a mostly closed system that runs on its own internally generated activity. David Eagleman dataviewsrunning Who you are depends on the sum total of your neurobiology. David Eagleman neurobiologydependswho-you-are Who we can be begins with our molecular blueprints - a series of alien codes penned in invisibly small strings of acids - well before we have anything to do with it. We are a product of our inaccessible, microscopic history. David Eagleman acidstringsaliens Among all the creatures of creation, the gods favor us: We are the only ones who can empathize with their problems. David Eagleman empathyfavorshumanity Consciousness is the smallest player in the operations of the brain. David Eagleman consciousnessplayerbrain Death... The moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time. David Eagleman lastsmomentsnames We don't really understand most of what's happening in the cosmos. Is there any afterlife? Who knows. David Eagleman cosmosafterlifeknows 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. David Eagleman hearingmindbrain We believe we're seeing the world just fine until it's called to our attention that we're not. David Eagleman attentionbelieveworld Our internal life and external actions are steered by biological coctails to which we have neither immediate access nor direct acquaintance. David Eagleman acquaintanceinternalsaction ...you are battered and bruised in the collisions between reminiscence and reality. David Eagleman collisionbatteredreality Love was not specified in the design of your brain; it is merely an endearing algorithm that freeloads on the leftover processing cycles. David Eagleman algorithmsdesignbrain Every week I get letters from people worldwide who feel that the possibilian point of view represents their understanding better than either religion or neo-atheism. David Eagleman understandingviewspeople When people fall in love, there´s period of up to three years during which the zeal and infatuation ride at a peak. The internal signals in the body and breain are literally a love drug. And then it beginds to decline. From this perspective, we are preprogramed to lose interest in a sexual partner after the time required to raise a child has passed - which is, on average, about 4 years. David Eagleman falling-in-loveaveragechildren I always bounce my legs when I'm sitting. David Eagleman bouncelegssitting There are an infinite number of boring things to do in science. David Eagleman boringinfinitenumbers When we're in a human body, we don't care about universal collapse - instead, we care only about a meeting of the eyes, a glimpse of bare flesh, the caressing tones of a loved voice, joy, love, light, the orientation of a house plant, the shade of a paint stroke, the arrangement of hair. David Eagleman lighteyehair Vision is more than looking. David Eagleman vision What has always surprised me when I walk into a bookstore is the number of books that you can find that are written with certainty. The authors tell some story as though it's true, but they don't have any evidence that it is true! David Eagleman storiesnumbersbook I know one lab that studies nicotine receptors and all the scientists are smokers, and another lab that studies impulse control and they're all overweight. David Eagleman impulse-controllabsstudy
