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If choices and decisions derive from hidden mental processes, then free choice is either an illusion or, at minimum, more tightly constrained than previously considered.

David Eagleman

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David Eagleman
Age: 53
Born: 1971
Born: April 25
Author
Neuroscientist
Psychologist
Researcher
University Teacher
Albuquerque
New Mexico
David M Eagleman
David Eagleman
Free
Considered
Process
Decisions
Constrained
Mental
Tightly
Illusion
Derive
Choice
Previously
Either
Processes
Decision
Minimum
Choices
Hidden

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The main thing known about secrets is that keeping them is unhealthy for the brain.
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The continuous networks of neural circuitry accomplish their functions using multiple, independently discovered strategies. The brain lends itself well to the complexity of the world, but poorly to clear-cut cartography.
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Our internal life and external actions are steered by biological coctails to which we have neither immediate access nor direct acquaintance.
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What a life in science really teaches you is the vastness of our ignorance.
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I call myself a Possibilian: I'm open to...ideas that we don't have any way of testing right now.
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We are not the ones driving the boat of our behavior, at least not nearly as much as we believe.
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Knowing yourself now requires the understanding that the conscious you occupies only a small room in the mansion of the brain, and that it has little control over the reality constructed for you.
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To a space alien or a German Shepherd dog, two humans would be indistinguishable, just as attractive and unattractive space aliens and German Shepherd dogs are difficult for you to tell apart.
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Given the billions of neurons, this means there are as many connections in a single cubic centimeter of brain tissue as there are stars in the Milky Way galaxy.
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If you have certain problems with your brain but are raised in a good home, you might turn out okay. If your brain is fine and your home is terrible, you might still turn out fine. But if you have mild brain damage and end up with a bad home life, you're tossing the dice for a very unlucky synergy.
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We are not conscious of most things until we ask ourselves questions about them.
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Neuroscience over the next 50 years is going to introduce things that are mind-blowing.
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