The first thing we learn from studying our own circuitry is a simple lesson: most of what we do and think and feel is not under our conscious control.

The first thing we learn from studying our own circuitry is a simple lesson: most of what we do and think and feel is not under our conscious control.

You gleefully say, "I just thought of something!", when in fact your brain performed an enormous amount of work before your moment of genius struck. When an idea is served up from behind the scenes, your neural circuitry has been working on it for hours or days or years, consolidating information and trying out new combinations. But you take credit without further wonderment at the vast, hidden machinery behind the scenes.

If you measure someone's brain and see very little activity during a task, it does not necessarily indicate that they're not trying - it more likely signifies that they have worked hard in the past to burn the programs into the circuitry. Consciousness is called in during the first phase of learning and is excluded from the game playing after it is deep in the system.

Among all the creatures of creation, the gods favor us: We are the only ones who can empathize with their problems.

We believe we're seeing the world just fine until it's called to our attention that we're not.

Every atom in your body is the same quark in different places at the same moment in time.