David Eagleman

Where this shows up in the media all the time is, oh, scientists have shown that we can measure, let's say, what's happening in visual cortex to the degree that you can actually understand what somebody is seeing. Even if you're not seeing what they're seeing, just by the activity of their visual cortex, you can understand what they're seeing.

Where this shows up in the media all the time is, oh, scientists have shown that we can measure, let's say, what's happening in visual cortex to the degree that you can actually understand what somebody is seeing. Even if you're not seeing what they're seeing, just by the activity of their visual cortex, you can understand what they're seeing.

The way you do this is you put people in the scanner, you show them hours and hours of videos and pictures and stuff like that. And for each image, you're looking at what am I seeing in the visual cortex? And so you end up with these very fine correlations.

The way you do this is you put people in the scanner, you show them hours and hours of videos and pictures and stuff like that. And for each image, you're looking at what am I seeing in the visual cortex? And so you end up with these very fine correlations.

The way you do this is you put people in the scanner, you show them hours and hours of videos and pictures and stuff like that. And for each image, you're looking at what am I seeing in the visual cortex? And so you end up with these very fine correlations.

Okay, so let's stick with vision for just one second. So if I'm measuring your visual cortex, I show you hours and hours of images, I measure your visual cortex, and eventually I can make a pretty good correlative map. Why? It's because your visual cortex is essentially like a warped television screen, your primary visual cortex. Okay.

Okay, so let's stick with vision for just one second. So if I'm measuring your visual cortex, I show you hours and hours of images, I measure your visual cortex, and eventually I can make a pretty good correlative map. Why? It's because your visual cortex is essentially like a warped television screen, your primary visual cortex. Okay.

Okay, so let's stick with vision for just one second. So if I'm measuring your visual cortex, I show you hours and hours of images, I measure your visual cortex, and eventually I can make a pretty good correlative map. Why? It's because your visual cortex is essentially like a warped television screen, your primary visual cortex. Okay.

So the media looks at these things and says, wow, that's mind reading. I can show you an image and say, I don't know what the image is, but I look at your visual cortex. I say, oh, Jordan's just seeing an image of an elephant riding a unicycle. That's pretty amazing, right? But it's not mind reading. That's just reading your visual cortex. Same with auditory cortex.

So the media looks at these things and says, wow, that's mind reading. I can show you an image and say, I don't know what the image is, but I look at your visual cortex. I say, oh, Jordan's just seeing an image of an elephant riding a unicycle. That's pretty amazing, right? But it's not mind reading. That's just reading your visual cortex. Same with auditory cortex.

So the media looks at these things and says, wow, that's mind reading. I can show you an image and say, I don't know what the image is, but I look at your visual cortex. I say, oh, Jordan's just seeing an image of an elephant riding a unicycle. That's pretty amazing, right? But it's not mind reading. That's just reading your visual cortex. Same with auditory cortex.

You can actually nowadays figure out what somebody is hearing in their ears from the activity on their auditory cortex. Very cool, impressive stuff. It's not mind reading. The auditory cortex is just laying out the different frequencies. Okay. think about what a thought actually is for you.

You can actually nowadays figure out what somebody is hearing in their ears from the activity on their auditory cortex. Very cool, impressive stuff. It's not mind reading. The auditory cortex is just laying out the different frequencies. Okay. think about what a thought actually is for you.

You can actually nowadays figure out what somebody is hearing in their ears from the activity on their auditory cortex. Very cool, impressive stuff. It's not mind reading. The auditory cortex is just laying out the different frequencies. Okay. think about what a thought actually is for you.

The thought is, when you walked in my house, you're thinking, okay, let's see, I'm carrying this thing in my left hand. Oh, I've got to step over here because there's a rock in the way. I'm just moving over here. And oh, I've never been to David's house before, even though David and I have known each other for a long time. And oh, look, oh, what's that? Oh, there's a grill over there. Cool.

The thought is, when you walked in my house, you're thinking, okay, let's see, I'm carrying this thing in my left hand. Oh, I've got to step over here because there's a rock in the way. I'm just moving over here. And oh, I've never been to David's house before, even though David and I have known each other for a long time. And oh, look, oh, what's that? Oh, there's a grill over there. Cool.

The thought is, when you walked in my house, you're thinking, okay, let's see, I'm carrying this thing in my left hand. Oh, I've got to step over here because there's a rock in the way. I'm just moving over here. And oh, I've never been to David's house before, even though David and I have known each other for a long time. And oh, look, oh, what's that? Oh, there's a grill over there. Cool.

Yeah, exactly. There's so much... thinking that we're never going to be able to figure out because it has to do with you and it has to do with, oh, and I forgot. I have to tell my brother about this thing that I forgot that happened last week. And all these things are running through your head all the time. So point is, we can measure visual cortex. We can measure auditory cortex.

Yeah, exactly. There's so much... thinking that we're never going to be able to figure out because it has to do with you and it has to do with, oh, and I forgot. I have to tell my brother about this thing that I forgot that happened last week. And all these things are running through your head all the time. So point is, we can measure visual cortex. We can measure auditory cortex.

Yeah, exactly. There's so much... thinking that we're never going to be able to figure out because it has to do with you and it has to do with, oh, and I forgot. I have to tell my brother about this thing that I forgot that happened last week. And all these things are running through your head all the time. So point is, we can measure visual cortex. We can measure auditory cortex.