What the neurology tells us is that the self consists of many components, and the notion of one unitary self may well be an illusion.

Our ability to perceive the world around us seems so effortless that we tend to take it for granted.

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

Indeed, the line between perceiving and hallucinating is not as crisp as we like to think. In a sense, when we look at the world, we are hallucinating all the time. One could almost regard perception as the act of choosing the one hallucination that best fits the incoming data.

What the artist tries to do (either consciously or unconsciously) is to not only capture the essence of something but also to amplify it in order to more powerfully activate the same neural mechanisms that would be activated by the original object.

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.

Any ape can reach for a banana, but only humans can reach for the stars.