David Eagleman

all, you know, we take everything that's happened before us and we springboard off the top of that. And this is the reason why Homo sapiens has taken over the planet and been so successful because we, unlike a horse that's essentially living the same life that horses have for, you know, for generations, we are living different lives every time. So that's what brain plasticity is about.

all, you know, we take everything that's happened before us and we springboard off the top of that. And this is the reason why Homo sapiens has taken over the planet and been so successful because we, unlike a horse that's essentially living the same life that horses have for, you know, for generations, we are living different lives every time. So that's what brain plasticity is about.

And I actually don't use the word plasticity as much anymore because that was a term originally coined by William James because he was impressed by plastic manufacturing. You could, you know, mold something into shape and it would hold that shape. And he said, that's kind of what brains do. You know, you learn the name of your fourth grade teacher and that gets written down and retained.

And I actually don't use the word plasticity as much anymore because that was a term originally coined by William James because he was impressed by plastic manufacturing. You could, you know, mold something into shape and it would hold that shape. And he said, that's kind of what brains do. You know, you learn the name of your fourth grade teacher and that gets written down and retained.

And I actually don't use the word plasticity as much anymore because that was a term originally coined by William James because he was impressed by plastic manufacturing. You could, you know, mold something into shape and it would hold that shape. And he said, that's kind of what brains do. You know, you learn the name of your fourth grade teacher and that gets written down and retained.

So he called that plasticity. But... What we're looking at is a system of such complexity. We've got 86 billion neurons. We've got 200 trillion synaptic connections. And every moment of your life, this forest of neurons is reconfiguring and changing.

So he called that plasticity. But... What we're looking at is a system of such complexity. We've got 86 billion neurons. We've got 200 trillion synaptic connections. And every moment of your life, this forest of neurons is reconfiguring and changing.

So he called that plasticity. But... What we're looking at is a system of such complexity. We've got 86 billion neurons. We've got 200 trillion synaptic connections. And every moment of your life, this forest of neurons is reconfiguring and changing.

And so I tend to call this live wiring instead of plasticity, only because I think the days of being impressed by plastic manufacturing are past us now. What we're looking at is a system that You know, every second of your life from cradle to grave is reconfiguring to represent the world around you and all of your experiences and all of your memories.

And so I tend to call this live wiring instead of plasticity, only because I think the days of being impressed by plastic manufacturing are past us now. What we're looking at is a system that You know, every second of your life from cradle to grave is reconfiguring to represent the world around you and all of your experiences and all of your memories.

And so I tend to call this live wiring instead of plasticity, only because I think the days of being impressed by plastic manufacturing are past us now. What we're looking at is a system that You know, every second of your life from cradle to grave is reconfiguring to represent the world around you and all of your experiences and all of your memories.

Right? That's exactly right. And so the key is if you ask these people, you know, if they did anything different while answering the question, they won't have any idea. But their eyes are like, you know, on a covert operation doing the thing. So as you know, of course, you know, eyes jump around about three times a second. Those are called saccades.

Right? That's exactly right. And so the key is if you ask these people, you know, if they did anything different while answering the question, they won't have any idea. But their eyes are like, you know, on a covert operation doing the thing. So as you know, of course, you know, eyes jump around about three times a second. Those are called saccades.

Right? That's exactly right. And so the key is if you ask these people, you know, if they did anything different while answering the question, they won't have any idea. But their eyes are like, you know, on a covert operation doing the thing. So as you know, of course, you know, eyes jump around about three times a second. Those are called saccades.

And then in between, there's little micro saccades. But the point is we're not aware of that at all. So when your brain is going out to seek the answer to a question, it... it's running its mission and it's looking at all the points and pieces that it needs to, to gather the information. But we consciously are totally unaware of that. And this of course is representative of, of most of perception.

And then in between, there's little micro saccades. But the point is we're not aware of that at all. So when your brain is going out to seek the answer to a question, it... it's running its mission and it's looking at all the points and pieces that it needs to, to gather the information. But we consciously are totally unaware of that. And this of course is representative of, of most of perception.

And then in between, there's little micro saccades. But the point is we're not aware of that at all. So when your brain is going out to seek the answer to a question, it... it's running its mission and it's looking at all the points and pieces that it needs to, to gather the information. But we consciously are totally unaware of that. And this of course is representative of, of most of perception.

Um, we don't know how we're gathering the data, but this is what we do. In fact, so what my book incognito was about, of course, was that almost everything in the brain is happening unconsciously. You just don't have any access to it and really no awareness or acquaintance with it either. Um, And this is just a good example of that.

Um, we don't know how we're gathering the data, but this is what we do. In fact, so what my book incognito was about, of course, was that almost everything in the brain is happening unconsciously. You just don't have any access to it and really no awareness or acquaintance with it either. Um, And this is just a good example of that.

Um, we don't know how we're gathering the data, but this is what we do. In fact, so what my book incognito was about, of course, was that almost everything in the brain is happening unconsciously. You just don't have any access to it and really no awareness or acquaintance with it either. Um, And this is just a good example of that.