Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
This is what consciousness does: it sets the goals, and the rest of the system learns how to meet them.
I think it's fair to say that the Nobel Prize is the highest honor any scientist or artist can achieve.
The adage that fact is stranger than fiction seems to be especially true for the workings of the brain.
Love often leads to healing, while fear and isolation breed illness. And our biggest fear is abandonment.
Even though the outside world has not changed, your brain dynamically presents different interpretations.
The phrase 'fake news' sounds too playful, too much like a schoolchild faking illness to get out of a test.
Even though we think we're getting a lot done, ironically, multitasking makes us demonstrably less efficient.
Your conscious life is an elaborate after-the-fact rationalization of things you really do for other reasons.
I reject the notion of a post-truth area. I don't believe there is such a thing, and we shouldn't accept that.
Part of the scientific temperament is this tolerance for holding multiple hypotheses in mind at the same time.
The knowledge we have of communication among cells does not permit my giving you a sophisticated understanding.
When you're at work, be fully at work. And let your leisure time be what it's meant to be - restorative and fun.
All activity in the brain is driven by other activity in the brain, in a vastly complex, interconnected network.
No one alive today has a single ancestor in his or her past who died in infancy. We are the champions, my friend!
Innovations that drive lasting economic growth emerge from the most advanced science, mathematics and technology.
If you aren't taking regular breaks every couple of hours, your brain won't benefit from that extra cup of coffee.
It's a tragedy for society to spend decades training people and then depriving them of work at some arbitrary age.
Among all the creatures of creation, the gods favor us: We are the only ones who can empathize with their problems.
Since we live in the heads of those who remember us, we lose control of our lives and become who they want us to be.
Nothing is inherently tasty or repulsive - it depends on your needs. Deliciousness is simply an index of usefulness.
My lab and academic work fill my day from about 9 am to 7 p.m. Then I zoom out the lens to work on my other writing.
That walk around the block, that fresh air, is going to help you work more quickly and effectively when you get back.
Will America lead...and reap the rewards? Or will we surrender that advantage to other countries with clearer vision?
It's getting harder and harder to know, when you find things on the Internet, what you can believe and what you can't.
Unscrupulous writers often count on the fact that most people don't bother reading footnotes or tracking down citations.
Maybe instead of asking political candidates to submit tax returns, we really should be asking to see their brain scans.
The kind of people who become graphic artists may not be mathematically inclined. They're artists, artistically inclined.
You are more likely to believe that a statement is true if you have heard it before - whether or not it is actually true.
Think about the brain as the densest concentration of youness. It's the peak of the mountain, but not the whole mountain.
The more familiar the world becomes, the less information your brain writes down, and the more quickly time seems to pass.
Great art allows you to transcend your mortal frame and to reach for the stars. I think great science does the same thing.
Modern neuroimaging is like asking an astronaut in the space shuttle to look out the window and judge how America is doing.
A mere 400 years after our fall from the center of the universe, we have experienced the fall from the center of ourselves.
I actually became a producer because I saw the producers getting all the babes. They were stealing them from the guitarists.
The majority of human beings live their whole lives unaware that they are only seeing a limited cone of vision at any moment.
Once you begin deliberating about where your fingers are jumping on the piano keyboard, you can no longer pull off the piece.
You are part of a complex social network that changes your biology with every interaction, and which your actions can change.
People wouldn't even go into science unless there was something much bigger to be discovered, something that is transcendent.
I have a lot of confidence through my accomplishments. I'm always trying to prove I'm not the worthless child they say I was.
Curiosity illuminates the correct path to anything in life. If you're not curious, that's when your brain is starting to die.
If everything in the environment is utterly predictable, you become bored. If it's utterly unpredictable, you become frustrated.
Singing and dancing have been shown to modulate brain chemistry, specifically levels of dopamine, the 'feel good' neurotransmitter.
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.
Amo, amas, I love a lass, As a cedar tall and slender; Sweet cowslip's grace is her nominative case, And she's of the feminine gender.
The electric guitar and its players hold a place of privilege in the annals of rock music. It is the engine, the weapon, the ax of rock.
Love was not specified in the design of your brain; it is merely an endearing algorithm that freeloads on the leftover processing cycles.
Your brain is built of cells called neurons and glia - hundreds of billions of them. Each one of these cells is as complicated as a city.
You cant just take an image and randomly distort it and call it art - although many people in La Jolla where I come from do precisely that.
I always say it was great for God to send his only son, but I'm waiting for him to send his only daughter. Then things will really be great.
I don't think I'm always right, but I would like to empower people to come to sound conclusions using a systematic way of looking at things.