The Giants Shoulder

Check out the Full Podcast with leading consciousness researcher Dr Anil Seth here - https://youtu.be/lOSA06K0l1oAnil Seth is a neuroscientist, author, and one of the world's leading experts in consciousness research. His TED talk Your Brain Hallucinates Your Conscious Experience has captivated over 17 million viewers, and his groundbreaking book Being You explores the incredible mystery of perception and consciousness.Buy Being You (It's Genuinely Great) - https://amzn.to/4ccATngYour brain is constantly hallucinating your reality—it's predicting, guessing, and making mistakes every moment of your life. Understanding these hallucinations can radically alter your view of what’s real, what’s illusion, and how your emotions are truly made.Expect to learn why the famous ‘dress illusion’ broke the internet, how your brain invents colors that don't objectively exist, why emotions aren't reliable signals but brain-generated best guesses, whether your kitchen exists when no one’s observing it, why AI might never experience true consciousness, how optical illusions reveal the brain’s hidden mechanisms, and much more

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist and author of My Stroke of Insight, one of the most powerful and widely viewed neuroscience stories of all time.At 37, Dr. Taylor suffered a catastrophic hemorrhagic stroke that shut down the entire left hemisphere of her brain. As a brain scientist, she watched her mind unravel from the inside out—losing language, identity, memory, and self. But what she found on the other side wasn’t just silence—it was peace, euphoria, and a profound sense of oneness with the universe.Expect to learn what it feels like to lose your ego, why the present moment can be pure bliss, how the brain builds our sense of self, how trauma and recovery reshape neural circuits, the shocking difference between left and right hemisphere consciousness, what happens when the fear and judgment centers go offline, how Jill rebuilt her brain through neuroplasticity, why she believes anyone can choose peace at any moment, how the Four Characters of the brain drive our behavior, the surprising neuroscience behind “enlightenment,” why psychedelics and stroke are not the same, and much moreTimestamps:02:00 Introduction to Jill's Fascination with Brains04:51 Understanding Brain Differences: A Personal Journey08:01 Stroke vs. Schizophrenia: Exploring Connections10:56 The Day of the Stroke: A Life-Changing Experience14:05 The Fascination of the Stroke Experience17:10 Cognitive Dissonance During the Stroke19:52 The Aftermath: Recovery and Insights23:02 Comparing Experiences: Stroke and Psychedelics26:08 The Impact of Brain Trauma on Spirituality28:53 Neuroanatomy and Recovery Strategies32:45 The Complexity and Consistency of the Brain34:47 Understanding Neuroplasticity and Learning36:42 The Blessing of a Stroke Experience39:40 Awakening in the Hospital44:23 Choosing Recovery Over Surrender47:10 The Intersection of Science and Spirituality51:44 Motivation to Rewire the Brain58:22 The Journey of Neurogenesis and Recovery01:05:16 The Journey of Recovery and Consciousness01:12:58 Understanding Whole Brain Living01:26:12 Differentiation and Control of Brain States.📚 RECOMMENDED READINGMy Stroke Of Insight: https://amzn.to/3GsU8gzWhole Brain Living: https://amzn.to/4lV3Ngd..._Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)_Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )Brain.FM: Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulder Consensus.AI: AI Powered Research (Use Code THEGIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub)_Follow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants Shoulder_Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249

Dr. Nick Enfield is a linguistic anthropologist and author of Language vs. Reality: Why Language Is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists, a mind-bending exploration of how words shape — and distort — the world we live in.Language isn’t just a tool for communication. It’s a tool for persuasion, manipulation, and coordination. It rewires our perception, memory, emotions, and beliefs — often without us even realizing it.Expect to learn why describing a face can make you forget it, how language evolved not to describe reality but to influence others, why humans are unmatched in social cognition, how categories reshape perception and strip away detail, why smell is nearly impossible to describe in English, how different cultures use language to sculpt emotions and relationships, why learning new languages expands the self, how words create in-groups and out-groups, the dark art of branding and political messaging — and why your sentences might be gaslighting your senses.Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:10 The Origins of Language 05:07 The Evolution of Communication 08:17 Language as a Tool for Action 11:16 The Role of Social Cognition 14:19 Language and Tool Use 17:23 The Brain and Language Development 20:11 Language and Memory 23:05 The Subjectivity of Language 25:57 Language Distorting Reality 42:39 Cultural Perception of Smells 44:25 Color Vocabulary and Its Importance 46:45 The Influence of Language on Perception 51:54 Kinship Terms and Cultural Context 58:58 Language and Social Accountability 01:03:46 Emotions and Language Framing 01:12:34 Marketing Language and Brand Identity 01:14:48 The Aesthetic of Branding 01:17:14 The Power of Narrative in Language 01:18:46 The Social Function of Stories 01:22:45 The Role of Stories in Identity Formation 01:30:59 Language as a Tool for Group Identity 01:36:37 The Impact of Language on Perception 01:40:50 Learning Languages to Expand Perspectives ...📚 RECOMMENDED READINGWhy Language Is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists: https://amzn.to/4cHQImjSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet at https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL (use Code GIANTSMANTA10)

Mike Long is a playwright, speechwriter, and co-author of Taming the Molecule of More — the practical sequel to the bestselling neuroscience book The Molecule of More.Dopamine doesn’t bring happiness — it brings anticipation. It’s the molecule that keeps us scrolling, swiping, craving, and chasing. But when understood and tamed, it can also drive purpose, focus, and deeply fulfilling lives.Expect to learn why dopamine isn’t about pleasure at all, how it hijacks our relationships, sex lives, and attention spans, the true science behind dopamine fasting and cold plunges, how porn and dating apps rewire the brain’s reward system, the difference between craving and contentment, why “boosting dopamine” is a myth, how to inject novelty into long-term love, how GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic are changing the science of addiction, and how to finally align your brain’s pursuit system with long-term meaningTimestamps:00:01:55 – Understanding Dopamine: The Molecule of More00:04:56 – The Misconceptions of Dopamine and Happiness00:07:55 – Taming the Molecule of More: Motivations and Insights00:10:56 – Dopamine's Role in Human Evolution and Modern Life00:13:58 – Rewiring the Brain: Valuing the Present vs. Future00:17:07 – The Impact of Technology on Dopamine Levels00:19:49 – Finding Meaning in a Dopamine-Driven World00:23:03 – The Importance of Self-Reflection and Belief Systems00:25:50 – Dopamine Fasting: Myths and Realities00:28:56 – Boosting Dopamine: Exercise and Lifestyle Choices00:43:07 – The Power of Small Daily Actions00:45:25 – Dopamine and Relationships00:51:07 – Understanding Expectations in Relationships00:52:13 – Mindfulness and Reaction to Stimulation00:56:35 – Injecting Novelty into Relationships01:02:26 – Navigating Attraction and Cravings01:07:59 – The Importance of Meaning in Life01:12:27 – Finding Meaning and Purpose01:25:08 – Practical Steps to Manage Impulses....Follow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants Shoulder Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )Brain.FM: Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulderConsensus.AI: AI Powered Research (Use Code THEGIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub)

Dr. Joel Pearson is a psychologist, neuroscientist, and founder of Future Minds Lab at UNSW — a cutting-edge research group exploring consciousness, intuition, mental imagery, and the psychology of decision-making in the age of AI.He’s the world’s leading expert on aphantasia — the inability to visualize mental images — and author of The Intuition Toolkit, a science-backed guide to harnessing the power of the subconscious mind.Expect to learn how intuition really works in the brain, the 5 science-based rules for trusting your gut, how to train intuition like a skill, the surprising link between interoception and unconscious decision-making, the neuroscience of flow and instinctive action, what aphantasia reveals about emotion and memory, how visual imagery amplifies anxiety, why some people are immune to mental pictures, how AI companions are already warping human psychology, and what happens when we start outsourcing love to machines.Timestamps:00:02:03 Exploring the Unconventional Lab of Dr. Joe Pearson00:08:05 Understanding Intuition: Definitions and Mechanisms00:13:50 The Role of Context in Intuition00:17:00 The Neural Mechanisms of Intuition00:19:59 Intuition in Decision Making00:22:54 Practical Applications of Intuition00:26:03 Intuition in Sports and Motor Skills00:32:38 Intuition and Career Choices00:34:47 The Role of Intuition in Decision Making00:38:20 Agency and Mental Health00:39:52 The Science of Intuition00:41:31 Real-Life Applications of Intuition00:45:30 Honing Intuition in Daily Life00:48:39 Flow State and Intuition00:54:13 Improving Intuition in the Lab01:00:31 Measuring the Mind: Psychophysical Technologies01:02:11 Intuition and Learning: Understanding Decision-Making01:05:15 Aphantasia: The Inability to Visualize01:09:34 The Journey into Mental Imagery Research01:12:44 Personal Experiences with Aphantasia01:21:26 Memory and Aphantasia: How Do They Interact?01:29:28 Adaptive Advantages of Aphantasia: A New Perspective01:30:33 Diverse Cognitive Approaches to Mathematics01:31:32 The Emotional Impact of Imagery01:32:57 Risk Perception and Empathy in Aphantasia01:35:09 Understanding Aphantasia Prevalence01:36:28 The Limits of Understanding Aphantasia01:38:38 Exploring Multisensory Aphantasia01:40:23 Future Directions in Aphantasia Research01:43:55 The Psychological Impact of AI01:49:00 The Future of Human-AI Relationships01:51:41 Exciting Developments in Neuroscience..Follow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants Shoulder Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )Brain.FM: Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulderConsensus.AI: AI Powered Research (Use Code THEGIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub)

Dr. Robert Prentner is a philosopher of mind and consciousness researcher working alongside Donald Hoffman, co-authoring the *Conscious Agent Theory* — a radical scientific framework that challenges our deepest assumptions about reality.Buy The Case Against Reality: How Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes - https://amzn.to/42uSB11According to their work, we don’t perceive the world as it truly is. Our brains evolved not for truth, but for *useful illusion*. Space and time? Icons. Objects? Interface elements. And what you think of as “reality” may be nothing more than a simplified desktop, hiding the chaotic code beneath.Expect to learn why consciousness may be more fundamental than physics, how your brain isn’t conscious — but is simply a representation *within* consciousness, why evolution selected for perception that hides the truth, how AI may already be tapping into conscious patterns, the mind-bending evidence from game theory and mathematics that suggest reality is a constructed hallucination, the key differences between access and phenomenal consciousness, why psychedelics might tear open the interface, what it really means to say “space and time aren’t real,” how the Big Bang fits into this illusion — and much more…...02:08 Perception and Reality: An Introduction 05:05 The Interface Theory of Perception 07:59 Evidence for the Interface Theory 11:15 Complexity of Perception 14:01 Consciousness: Fundamental or Emergent? 17:07 Distinctions in Consciousness 20:05 Panpsychism and Consciousness 23:12 Icons and Their Meaning 25:58 Consciousness in the Animal Kingdom 29:16 Measuring Consciousness 32:10 Space and Time as Constructs 35:12 The Nature of Reality 38:03 Consciousness and the Big Bang 41:02 Experimental Paradigms in Consciousness Research 43:58 Consciousness and Biology 47:10 The Future of Consciousness Research 51:54 The Computability of Consciousness 54:28 Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness 58:25 Psychedelics and Consciousness 01:04:29 The Language of Consciousness 01:10:57 Living with Consciousness 01:17:22 AI and Consciousness ...Follow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants Shoulder Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet at https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL (use Code GIANTSMANTA10)

Dr. Paul Cisek is a professor of neuroscience at the University of Montreal, and focuses on understanding how the brain controls behaviour. Particularly through the lens of motor control and decision-making. His interdisciplinary approach combines neurophysiological recordings, computational modelling, and evolutionary biology to explore how the brain mediates interactions with the world. This type of knowledge makes for an incredibly interesting conversation! Check out the Full Podcast with the amazing Dr Paul Cisek - https://youtu.be/C6frE6nj1tY

This Giant Moment was taken from #10 Behavioural Geneticist Dr Robert Plomin - How DNA impacts Personality and the Future of Genetic Testing and ManipulationCheck out the full episode here - https://open.spotify.com/episode/0vIhY07qFBNms01I1yJvc2?si=InaapK9iTWKHJJU4me8TJQ

Anil Seth is a neuroscientist, author, and one of the world's leading experts in consciousness research. His TED talk Your Brain Hallucinates Your Conscious Experience has captivated over 17 million viewers, and his groundbreaking book Being You explores the incredible mystery of perception and consciousness.Buy Being You (It's Genuinely Great) - https://amzn.to/4ccATngYour brain is constantly hallucinating your reality—it's predicting, guessing, and making mistakes every moment of your life. Understanding these hallucinations can radically alter your view of what’s real, what’s illusion, and how your emotions are truly made.Expect to learn why the famous ‘dress illusion’ broke the internet, how your brain invents colours that don't objectively exist, why emotions aren't reliable signals but brain-generated best guesses, whether your kitchen exists when no one’s observing it, why AI might never experience true consciousness, how optical illusions reveal the brain’s hidden mechanisms, and much more...00:00 Why Your Brain Hallucinates Your Reality02:30 The Dress Illusion That Broke the Internet Explained07:15 Your Brain Lies About Color (and You Believe It)12:40 Messi-Shaped People: How Peripheral Vision Fools You17:35 The Shocking Truth About Optical Illusions23:10 Why Your Emotions Are Just Guesses from Your Brain29:02 The Rickety Bridge Experiment: Misunderstood Arousal34:00 Cold Showers, Pain, and How Your Brain Tricks You38:15 Does Your Kitchen Exist When Nobody Looks?43:50 Panpsychism, Conscious Agents, and Reality as an Illusion49:30 Why Consciousness Might Require Life54:05 Could AI Ever Become Truly Conscious?58:40 How to Know When Your Brain Is Lying to You1:02:30 The Strange World of Synesthesia: Letters Coming Out of Mouths1:06:10 Why Meditation Helps You Decode Your Brain’s Lies1:10:25 Anil Seth’s Biggest Insight from Studying Consciousness...Follow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants Shoulder Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet at https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL (use Code GIANTSMANTA10)

Dr. Will Ratcliff is an evolutionary biologist, professor, and researcher pioneering groundbreaking experiments in evolutionary biology and synthetic biology.Understanding how complex life evolved from single-celled organisms is one of biology's greatest mysteries. By evolving yeast from simple single cells into increasingly complex multicellular forms in his laboratory, Dr. Ratcliff is unlocking the fundamental rules that govern evolution itself. So how does life go from microscopic simplicity to stunning complexity, and what secrets are hidden within evolutionary leaps?Expect to learn how scientists forced yeast to evolve multicellularity, why evolution doesn't always mean increasing complexity, how yeast astonishingly evolved from fragile clusters into structures as strong as wood, why synthetic biology can create solar-powered yeast using whale DNA, how evolution can surprisingly move backward from multicellular to unicellular, why group selection is a misunderstood and vital concept, how the evolution of cooperation and altruism actually works, what myths about evolution we should abandon, and much more…...00:00 Meet the Scientist Evolving Life in a Lab01:01 How Single Cells Became Complex Life02:35 The 50,000-Generation Evolution Experiment05:12 Why Evolution Is Shockingly Unpredictable08:33 Could Yeast Evolve into Something Unrecognizable?11:25 Why Evolution Keeps Creating Similar Species14:03 What Most People Get Wrong About Evolution17:31 Ordering DNA Online Like an Amazon Package20:20 How Whale DNA Created Solar-Powered Yeast23:18 Why Most Genetic Mutations Fail27:52 The Strange Truth About Human Uniqueness31:15 How Multicellularity Evolved Over and Over34:10 Why Cells Sacrifice Themselves for the Group37:45 Does Evolution Ever Go Backwards?41:17 Defining Life: What Really Makes an Individual?45:09 Cancer: When Cells Rebel Against the Body49:34 Group Selection: Evolution’s Misunderstood Concept53:22 Why Evolution Doesn't Always Mean Progress57:30 How Complex Organisms Can Lose Complexity1:01:07 Why Animals Don't Return to Single-Cell Life (But Fungi Do)1:05:14 Mycelium Networks: Intelligence Underground1:08:26 LUCA: Searching for Life’s Universal Ancestor1:12:50 Could Complex Life Exist on Other Planets?1:16:03 Synthetic Biology: Redesigning Life from Scratch1:19:45 What Evolution Teaches Us About Cooperation1:23:20 Why Some Organisms Are Evolutionary Dead Ends1:27:05 Could Humans Engineer Entirely New Forms of Life?1:31:33 The Future of Lab-Grown Evolution1:36:10 Could Lab Evolution Create Consciousness?1:40:02 The Most Surprising Results from Evolution Experiments1:45:15 Why Predicting Evolution is Almost Impossible1:50:06 How Synthetic Organisms Could Solve Global Problems1:54:20 The Philosophical Implications of Creating Life...Follow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants Shoulder Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249