13 febrero, 2012

«If you can’t rely on your own dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, borrow someone else’s» Jonathan Downar



«The rule of thumb is this: when you cannot rely on your own rational systems, borrow someone else’s.
(…)
This phrase is borrowed from my colleague Jonathan Downar, who put it as “If you can’t rely on your own dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, borrow someone else’s.”»
David Eagleman in “Incognito”

«If our brains were simple enough to be understood, we wouldn’t be smart enough to understand them» D. Eagleman




«If our brains were simple enough to be understood, we wouldn’t be smart enough to understand them.»
David Eagleman in “Incognito”

«Prisons have become our de facto mental health care institutions» David Eagleman




«Prisons have become our de facto mental health care institutions.»
David Eagleman in “Incognito”

«[Ulysses] came up with an idea to deal with his future self…» David Eagleman



«So Ulysses hatched a plan. He knew that when he heard the music, he would be as unable to resist as any other mortal man, so he came up with an idea to deal with his future self. (…) Freely made decisions that bind you in the future are what philosophers call a Ulysses contract.»
David Eagleman in “Incognito”

«Just like a good drama, the human brain runs on conflict» David Eagleman



«Just like a good drama, the human brain runs on conflict.»
David Eagleman in “Incognito”

«I am large, I contain multitudes» Walt Whitman



«Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)»
Walt Whitman, Song of Myself (cited by David Eagleman in “Incognito”)

«How do I know what I think until I hear what I say?» EM Foster



«People don’t always speak their minds, in part because people don’t always know their minds. As E. M. Forster quipped: “How do I know what I think until I hear what I say?”»
David Eagleman in “Incognito”

«The best way to get out of breath is to think about your breathing» David Eagleman



«The best way to mess up your piano piece is to concentrate on your fingers; the best way to get out of breath is to think about your breathing; the best way to miss the golf ball is to analyze your swing.»
David Eagleman in “Incognito”

«When it comes to nature and nurture, the important point is that you choose neither one» D. Eagleman



«When it comes to nature and nurture, the important point is that you choose neither one.»
David Eagleman in “Incognito”

12 febrero, 2012

«So the first lesson about trusting your senses is: don’t» David Eagleman



«So the first lesson about trusting your senses is: don’t. Just because you believe something to be true, just because you know it’s true, that doesn’t mean it is true. The most important maxim for fighter pilots is “Trust your instruments.”»
David Eagleman in “Incognito”

«In each of us there is another whom we do not know» Carl Jung



«As Carl Jung put it, “In each of us there is another whom we do not know.” As Pink Floyd put it, “There’s someone in my head, but it’s not me.”»
David Eagleman in “Incognito”

«The brain works its machinations in secret, conjuring ideas like tremendous magic» David Eagleman



«The brain works its machinations in secret, conjuring ideas like tremendous magic. It does not allow its colossal operating system to be probed by conscious cognition. The brain runs its show incognito.»
David Eagleman in “Incognito”

«Most of what we do and think and feel is not under our conscious control» David Eagleman




«The first thing we learn from studying our own circuitry is a simple lesson: most of what we do and think and feel is not under our conscious control.»
David Eagleman in “Incognito”