David Eagleman

Nope. No, great. So I'm glad he asked this question. The idea of mind reading using, let's say, fMRI, which is our current hot technology, but in 10 years it'll be outdated and there'll be xMRI or something better. But the point is... Every brain is completely different. You and I have tons of stuff in common, but our brains are totally different. We grew up in different places.

Nope. No, great. So I'm glad he asked this question. The idea of mind reading using, let's say, fMRI, which is our current hot technology, but in 10 years it'll be outdated and there'll be xMRI or something better. But the point is... Every brain is completely different. You and I have tons of stuff in common, but our brains are totally different. We grew up in different places.

We had different childhood experiences. We had different parents or whatever. And as a result, all the fine structure of our brain is different. So there are certain things. that you would find appealing, like a certain math problem or something. I might find something, maybe you like flying an airplane. I like riding horses and whatever, like there's just a million differences.

We had different childhood experiences. We had different parents or whatever. And as a result, all the fine structure of our brain is different. So there are certain things. that you would find appealing, like a certain math problem or something. I might find something, maybe you like flying an airplane. I like riding horses and whatever, like there's just a million differences.

We had different childhood experiences. We had different parents or whatever. And as a result, all the fine structure of our brain is different. So there are certain things. that you would find appealing, like a certain math problem or something. I might find something, maybe you like flying an airplane. I like riding horses and whatever, like there's just a million differences.

Okay, so that's the first problem. But the second problem is real thought, a real person is so rich and multilayered and highly textured that I assert it's actually impossible to do mind reading, certainly in our lifetime, maybe ever. So here's what I mean.

Okay, so that's the first problem. But the second problem is real thought, a real person is so rich and multilayered and highly textured that I assert it's actually impossible to do mind reading, certainly in our lifetime, maybe ever. So here's what I mean.

Okay, so that's the first problem. But the second problem is real thought, a real person is so rich and multilayered and highly textured that I assert it's actually impossible to do mind reading, certainly in our lifetime, maybe ever. So here's what I mean.

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.

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.