Eagleman ends this chapter by comparing our minds to a robot. The speed of our circuits improved by the automatization of tasks - our ability to do things instinctively. Our circuit is also energy efficient because our unconscious does much of the work so we don’t have to think about everything we do. Everytime unconscious learning occurs, we burn a new program into the circuit board, and the tasks becomes automated.
The fourth chapter, called “The Kinds of Thoughts That Are Unthinkable”, describes how brain actively constructs our reality in a subjective manner. Eagleman talks about the programs in the brain written by evolution. These programs cause us to find other humans attractive and useful foods tastiest. On the other hand, if we were a frog, our evolutionary programs would cause us to find other frogs most attractive, and insects to be tastiest. Our evolutionary goals structure much of our thoughts, and thus also controls our perception of reality.
Eagleman also explains concepts called the umwelt and …show more content…
This chapter talks about how our genes and neural machinery control much of what we do. Eaglemen describes many cases where people suddenly become crazy or act unlike their usual selves. In these cases, their strange behavior was the result of a tumor in their brain. After Charles Whitman opened fire at the University of Texas, the medical examiner discovered a tumor in his thalamus, a region of the brain that regulates emotion. The damage to his brain caused emotional and social disturbances, and explains why Whitman, a seemingly normal man, did what he did. In a second example, a forty year old man named Alex one day experienced a change in his sexual preferences; he became much more sexually active. A brain scan revealed a brain tumor in his orbitofrontal cortex, and after it was removed, Alex’s sexual appetite returned to
The fourth chapter, called “The Kinds of Thoughts That Are Unthinkable”, describes how brain actively constructs our reality in a subjective manner. Eagleman talks about the programs in the brain written by evolution. These programs cause us to find other humans attractive and useful foods tastiest. On the other hand, if we were a frog, our evolutionary programs would cause us to find other frogs most attractive, and insects to be tastiest. Our evolutionary goals structure much of our thoughts, and thus also controls our perception of reality.
Eagleman also explains concepts called the umwelt and …show more content…
This chapter talks about how our genes and neural machinery control much of what we do. Eaglemen describes many cases where people suddenly become crazy or act unlike their usual selves. In these cases, their strange behavior was the result of a tumor in their brain. After Charles Whitman opened fire at the University of Texas, the medical examiner discovered a tumor in his thalamus, a region of the brain that regulates emotion. The damage to his brain caused emotional and social disturbances, and explains why Whitman, a seemingly normal man, did what he did. In a second example, a forty year old man named Alex one day experienced a change in his sexual preferences; he became much more sexually active. A brain scan revealed a brain tumor in his orbitofrontal cortex, and after it was removed, Alex’s sexual appetite returned to