The Giants Shoulder #40 Learning Expert: Hallucinated Reality, Rewiring Baby Brains, Emotions, Learning & Ai!
Dr. Mark Williams is a cognitive neuroscientist, author of The Connected Species, and one of the world’s leading experts on how we learn, connect, and perceive reality — and why modern life may be rewiring our brains in ways we don’t fully understand.
Your brain is not showing you the world as it is — it’s hallucinating a version that helps you survive. And that illusion is breaking down. Especially for children.
Expect to learn why reality itself is a convincing hallucination created by your brain, how technology is disrupting emotional development and attention in kids, why screen time is linked to lower empathy and memory, how facial expressions are learned (and what happens when they aren’t), why multitasking ruins learning, how AI could both help and harm education, why sleep is critical for memory, why writing is better than typing, and how to reimagine schools based on what the brain actually needs.
Plus — the incredible story of how Dr. Williams went from high-school dropout to MIT neuroscientist, and what it taught him about human potential.
Timestamps:
00:02:55 The Illusion of Reality: How Our Brain Constructs Perception
00:09:26 Mark Williams: A Journey from Struggles to Neuroscience
00:16:46 Reimagining Education: Connection Over Curriculum
00:20:58 The Role of AI in Education: Opportunities and Challenges
00:29:45 Neuroscience Insights: Learning, Memory, and Effective Education
00:36:16 The Role of Ancillary Learning in Neuroscience
00:37:25 Effective Learning Strategies and Common Mistakes
00:40:29 The Impact of AI on Learning
00:42:47 Engagement vs. Entertainment in Education
00:42:58 The Distraction of Mobile Devices in Classrooms
00:45:52 The Importance of Handwriting and Note-Taking
00:48:25 The Value of Effort in Learning
00:51:05 Teaching Neuroscience to Educators
00:54:51 The Importance of Social Interaction for Learning
00:57:06 Attention Spans and Mental Health Concerns
01:02:21 The Loneliness Epidemic Among Youth
01:03:39 Applying Neuroscience to Daily Life
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📚 RECOMMENDED READING
The Connected Species: How the Evolution of the Human Brain Can Save the World: https://amzn.to/44gSTcv…
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