Knowing yourself now requires the understanding that the conscious you occupies only a small room in the mansion of the brain, and that it has little control over the reality constructed for you. David Eagleman More Quotes by David Eagleman More Quotes From David Eagleman Asleep vision (dreaming) is perception that is not tied down to anything in the real world; waking perception is something like dreaming with a little more commitment to what's in front of you. David Eagleman real dream commitment To a space alien or a German Shepherd dog, two humans would be indistinguishable, just as attractive and unattractive space aliens and German Shepherd dogs are difficult for you to tell apart. David Eagleman space dog two Those with Anton's syndrome are not pretending they are not blind; they truly believe they are not blind. Their verbal reports, while inaccurate, are not lies. Instead, they are experiencing what they take to be vision, but it is all internally generated. David Eagleman vision believe lying We are not the ones driving the boat of our behavior, at least not nearly as much as we believe. David Eagleman boat driving believe If you have certain problems with your brain but are raised in a good home, you might turn out okay. If your brain is fine and your home is terrible, you might still turn out fine. But if you have mild brain damage and end up with a bad home life, you're tossing the dice for a very unlucky synergy. David Eagleman brain home might You are part of a complex social network that changes your biology with every interaction, and which your actions can change. David Eagleman social-network biology action We spend our lives on a thin slice between the unimaginably small scales of the atoms that compose us and the infinitely large scales of galaxies. David Eagleman scales galaxy atoms Think about the brain as the densest concentration of youness. It's the peak of the mountain, but not the whole mountain. David Eagleman mountain brain thinking Even though the outside world has not changed, your brain dynamically presents different interpretations. David Eagleman different brain world In our current understanding of science, we can't find the physical gap in which to slip free will - the uncaused causer - because there seems to be no part of the machinery that does not follow in a causal relationship from the other parts. David Eagleman gaps understanding doe I think what a life in science really teaches you is the vastness of our ignorance. David Eagleman you ignorance life science I think the first decade of this century is going to be remembered as a time of extremism. David Eagleman decade going think time Part of the scientific temperament is this tolerance for holding multiple hypotheses in mind at the same time. David Eagleman same tolerance mind time My dream is to reform the legal system over the next 20 years. David Eagleman legal over next dream The same stimuli in the world can be inducing very different experiences internally and it's probably based on a single change in a gene. What I am doing is pulling the gene forward and imaging and doing behavioural tests to understand what that difference is and how reality can be constructed so differently. David Eagleman i-am change reality world