How Much Information Can You Really Get From the Brain?

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FA Hayek made the point that macroeconomics is something like a pigeon. We understand some principles of behavior, but beyond that we are pretty much in the dark. The more information you can actually get, the better understanding you may have. But I think the key thing is really information. How much information can we actually get from?

While operating on a 16-year-old girl who suffered from severe seizures, neurosurgeon Itzhak Fried stumbled on the region of the brain that makes us laugh. To neuroscientist Patrick House, Fried's ability to produce laughter surgically raises deep and disconcerting questions about how the brain works. Join Fried, House, and EconTalk's Russ Roberts for a live broadcast from Jerusalem's Shalem College that is a sequel of sorts to House's earlier appearance on EconTalk. House and Fried discuss the mystery of consciousness and try to square the biological bases for emotions with the circle of our humanity.