NeuroLogic: The Brain's Hidden Rationale | Feifan 05

What this episode is about

How can a blind man keep insisting that he isn’t blind? Why would an otherwise perfectly healthy person feel certain that he is already dead? How could a bank robber turn out to be a victim of hypnosis? Why do some people develop multiple personalities? The case stories in this book are so fascinating and bizarre that they are pure page-turners. But even more important is the book’s insight: it offers a cutting-edge, deeply perceptive look at the scientific world’s current understanding of the unconscious. Strongly recommended by Nature. We have learned from many books how consciousness and the unconscious work together, and we know that the unconscious matters. But this book’s breakthrough is that it clearly explains the unconscious’s “working logic”—opening our eyes while helping us understand ourselves better. 

You will hear

• Understand how the unconscious system operates and why it matters
• Step into “brain mysteries” you have never heard of
• Discover the unknown “back side” of your own brain
• See why you “do what you do” under the control of your neural circuits

Quote of the episode

The unconscious has one especially central function: it seems always to be doing everything it can to make the story add up.

Hypnosis is not a loss of consciousness or a state of mental fog. On the contrary, it concentrates consciousness intensely on a particular idea or image.

The unconscious pieces together the fragments we experience, filling in the gaps when necessary—and, in chronological order, writing out a complete story of our lives.

About the author

Eliezer Sternberg　A neurologist at Milford Regional Medical Center, specializing in the long-term management of epilepsy-related disorders. He earned his MD from Tufts University and completed his residency and fellowship training at Yale New Haven Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, respectively. His academic background spans neuroscience and philosophy.