Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman

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  • 4.7 (485)
  • SCIENCE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman

Neuroscientist and author David Eagleman discusses how our brain interprets the world and what that means for us. Through storytelling, research, interviews, and experiments, David Eagleman tackles wild questions that illuminate new facets of our lives and our realities.

  1. 2 DAYS AGO

    Ep79 "Does everyone have different mind's eyes, mind's ears, and mind's tongues?"

    When you imagine something -- like the sun peeking over a mountain during an early morning rainstorm -- do you see it with rich visual detail, or instead with very little internal picture? In an earlier episode we tackled the spectrum of visual imagination, from hyperphantasia to aphantasia -- and in this episode we dive even deeper with guest Joel Pearson to surface the most surprising differences between people's internal lives. How does your experience differ from other people's, and how does your brain cobble together the skills you have to accomplish what you need?

    39 min

  2. SEP 30

    Ep78 "Does your brain have one model of the world or thousands?"

    Why do you see a unified image when you open your eyes, even though each part of your visual cortex has access to only a small part of the world? What is special about the wrinkled outer layer of the brain, and what does that have to do with the way that you explore and come to understand the world? Are there new theories of how the brain operates? And in what ways is it doing something very different than current AI? Join Eagleman with guest Jeff Hawkins, theoretician and author of "A Thousand Brains" to dive into Hawkins' theory of many models running in the brain at once.

    53 min

  3. SEP 23

    Ep77 "What is Life?"

    How do you define what things are living and dead? You might look at a sprinting cheetah and say it's clearly alive, whereas a chunk of rock is not -- but where do we draw the line? What might we expect extraterrestrials to look like, and would we even have the capacity to recognize them? And what does any of this have to do with Frankenstein, ancient Greek philosophers, or the possibility of finding a cell phone on Mars? Join Eagleman with guest Sara Walker, theoretical physicist at Arizona State University and author of the book “Life as No One Knows It”.

    51 min

  4. SEP 16

    Ep76 "How do you decide?" (Part 2)

    Do brains time travel? What is a prediction error? What does any of this have to do with the 2008 crash of the economy, how we keep internal price tags, or a rational approach to drug addiction in society? Join Eagleman to learn how your 3-pound universe spends its whole existence nailing down choices.

    42 min

  5. SEP 9

    Ep75 "How do you decide?" (Part 1)

    When you make a decision about what food to order, what's happening in your brain? How do you clinch long-term decisions, like hitting the gym instead of doomscrolling? And what does any of this have to do with the ancient Greeks, alien hand syndrome, and constraining a president who wants to launch a nuclear bomb? Join Eagleman this week and next to discover how your brain weighs alternatives and nails down decisions.

    32 min

  6. SEP 2

    Ep74 "Why do we laugh?"

    From the brain’s point of view, what is humor? When something is funny, why do we breathe in and out rapidly? Do other animals laugh? Why do most jokes come in threes? What do mystery novelists, magicians, and comedians have in common? Could AI be truly funny? Join Eagleman this week to appreciate the tens of reasons and millions of years behind the tickling of your neural pathways.

    43 min

  7. AUG 26

    Ep73 "How do we fool ourselves in the stock market?"

    What does neuroscience have to do with investment, and what does that have to do with Isaac Newton, the Dutch East India company, Kodak, the way zebras herd, our emotions, and almost 200 cognitive biases? Join Eagleman with guest Mark Matson, whose new book The American Dream dives into the cognitive illusions we face when trying to make investments.

    50 min

  8. AUG 19

    Ep72 "How do you put yourself in other people's shoes (and can AI do it)?"

    You know that moment in the horror movie where the monster is coming closer, but the movie star doesn't see it? Why does that drive you crazy, and what does that teach us about brains? What is theory of mind, and why is it so important for everyone from poker players to conmen to stage magicians to novelists? Join us this week to dive into a fundamental skill of human brains -- and the question of whether current AI has any ability to simulate other people's minds.

    42 min
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4.7
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About

Neuroscientist and author David Eagleman discusses how our brain interprets the world and what that means for us. Through storytelling, research, interviews, and experiments, David Eagleman tackles wild questions that illuminate new facets of our lives and our realities.

Information

  • Channel
    iHeartPodcasts
  • Creator
    iHeartPodcasts
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2024
  • Episodes
    83
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    2024 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia
  • Show Website
    Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman
  • Provider
    iHeartMedia + Entertainment, Inc

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