David Eagleman

There's, you know, 100,000 employees, right? Yeah. The CEO's job fundamentally is to wait for the phone to ring and say, hey, there's trouble here. There's something going on that we don't know what to do. The CEO makes a decision. And also, of course, to do future planning. Yes. Consciousness is essentially about that.

Yeah, that's right. That's right. And so I think what I suggested in Incognito is that maybe we can look at the way that animals resolve conflict or don't, like the poor rat that gets stuck in the middle, and we can use that as at least a rough metric for the degree of consciousness that an animal has. Because the assertion there is that...

Yeah, that's right. That's right. And so I think what I suggested in Incognito is that maybe we can look at the way that animals resolve conflict or don't, like the poor rat that gets stuck in the middle, and we can use that as at least a rough metric for the degree of consciousness that an animal has. Because the assertion there is that...

Yeah, that's right. That's right. And so I think what I suggested in Incognito is that maybe we can look at the way that animals resolve conflict or don't, like the poor rat that gets stuck in the middle, and we can use that as at least a rough metric for the degree of consciousness that an animal has. Because the assertion there is that...

You know, consciousness allows you to mediate these things and figure out a path forward there.

You know, consciousness allows you to mediate these things and figure out a path forward there.

You know, consciousness allows you to mediate these things and figure out a path forward there.

Yeah. The difficulty with the consciousness question, of course, as we know, is there's no single spot in the brain that is consciousness. And so when I think about rivaling networks, I tend to think about them rivaling directly with one another. You're, of course, totally correct that For example, visual attention can amplify certain things.

Yeah. The difficulty with the consciousness question, of course, as we know, is there's no single spot in the brain that is consciousness. And so when I think about rivaling networks, I tend to think about them rivaling directly with one another. You're, of course, totally correct that For example, visual attention can amplify certain things.

Yeah. The difficulty with the consciousness question, of course, as we know, is there's no single spot in the brain that is consciousness. And so when I think about rivaling networks, I tend to think about them rivaling directly with one another. You're, of course, totally correct that For example, visual attention can amplify certain things.

It's like coming from visual cortex, you can pay auditory attention to something or something like that.

It's like coming from visual cortex, you can pay auditory attention to something or something like that.

It's like coming from visual cortex, you can pay auditory attention to something or something like that.

Exactly, but I have to confess that we just don't know what... What consciousness is, where does consciousness live in that? I mean, we can talk about visual attention, auditory attention, and so on, but where's this? It's not like an extra bit that just pays attention consciously. So that's still a bit of a mystery. Yeah, yeah.

Exactly, but I have to confess that we just don't know what... What consciousness is, where does consciousness live in that? I mean, we can talk about visual attention, auditory attention, and so on, but where's this? It's not like an extra bit that just pays attention consciously. So that's still a bit of a mystery. Yeah, yeah.

Exactly, but I have to confess that we just don't know what... What consciousness is, where does consciousness live in that? I mean, we can talk about visual attention, auditory attention, and so on, but where's this? It's not like an extra bit that just pays attention consciously. So that's still a bit of a mystery. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Well, what it's for, of course, is what you said at the beginning, which is the way that we go on missions into the world. You know, if I'm looking for the red object, then I find the red object. If I'm looking for the thing that looks like a broom, then I find that in the crowded space and so on. So visual attention is what allows us to parse the world

Yeah. Well, what it's for, of course, is what you said at the beginning, which is the way that we go on missions into the world. You know, if I'm looking for the red object, then I find the red object. If I'm looking for the thing that looks like a broom, then I find that in the crowded space and so on. So visual attention is what allows us to parse the world

Yeah. Well, what it's for, of course, is what you said at the beginning, which is the way that we go on missions into the world. You know, if I'm looking for the red object, then I find the red object. If I'm looking for the thing that looks like a broom, then I find that in the crowded space and so on. So visual attention is what allows us to parse the world

in a way that's aligned with our mission, that what we're trying to answer in that moment.