With the arrival of humans, it has been said, the universe has suddenly become conscious of itself. This, truly, it the greatest mystery of all.

Yet as human beings we have to accept-with humility-that the question of ultimate origins will always remain with us, no matter how deeply we understand the brain and the cosmos that it creates.

Remember that politics, colonialism, imperialism and war also originate in the human brain.

Curiosity illuminates the correct path to anything in life. If you're not curious, that's when your brain is starting to die.

What do we mean by "knowledge" or "understanding"? And how do billions of neurons achieve them? These are complete mysteries. Admittedly, cognitive neuroscientists are still very vague about the exact meaning of words like "understand," "think," and indeed the word "meaning" itself.

If we knew about the real facts and statistics of mortality, we’d be terrified.

Your conscious life is an elaborate after-the-fact rationalization of things you really do for other reasons.