We have a language around consciousness that allows us to fluently talk about minds. These are not just the building blocks of our daily lives and the minutiae of our streams of consciousness, but also the material out of which the greatest artists and writers make their own lives. So we had to develop a huge number of sort of cognitive concepts, and that enriched our understanding of the intrinsic world. And one of the reasons that minds get portrayed so much more richly in contemporary literature or by the time you get, you know, to the Enlightenment is because those concepts were introduced.
Neuroscientist and author Erik Hoel talks about his book, The World Behind the World, with EconTalk's Russ Roberts. Is it possible to reconcile the seemingly subjective inner world of human experience with the seemingly objective outer world of observation, measurement, and science? Despite the promise of neuroscience, Hoel argues that this reconciliation is surprisingly difficult. Join Hoel and Roberts for a wide-ranging exploration of what it means to be human and the limits of science in helping us understand who we are.