Our Brains Are Not More Evolved Than a Lizard's Brains

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We have the same basic brain cells neurons. It's just that the conditions in which they evolved are different and that leads to differentiation. That our brains are, I mean, this is the kind of thing that makes people don't know anything about science crazy. Lizards are really well adapted to their niche and we'rereally well adapted to art. There are only one class of animals, I think, who have larger niche than we do: bacteria and other single cell organisms.

If you managed to stay awake during Bio 101, then you probably think you have a basic understanding of how your brain works. Not so, says neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett. In this cerebral yet highly entertaining conversation with Next Big Idea Club curator Daniel Pink, Lisa says our brains are made for budgeting, not thinking. She debunks the myth of the lizard brain. And she makes the far-out claim that everything you see and hear, including this podcast, is a hallucination.