If you ever feel lazy or dull, take heart: you're the busiest, brightest thing on the planet.
David EaglemanModern neuroimaging is like asking an astronaut in the space shuttle to look out the window and judge how America is doing.
David EaglemanAfter all, across the population there are slight differences in brain function, and sometimes these translate directly into different ways of experiencing the world. And each individual believes his way is reality.
David EaglemanAmong all the creatures of creation, the gods favor us: We are the only ones who can empathize with their problems.
David EaglemanWe are not at the center of ourselves, but instead - like the Earth in the Milky Way, and the Milky Way in the universe - far out on a distant edge, hearing little of what is transpiring.
David EaglemanThe left hemisphere acts as an "interpreter," watching the actions and behaviors of the body and assigning a coherent narrative to these events. And the left hemisphere works this way even in normal, intact brains. Hidden programs drive actions, and the left hemisphere makes justifications. This idea of retrospective storytelling suggests that we come to know our own attitudes and emotions, at least partially, by inferring them from observations of our own behavior.
David Eagleman