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The conscious mind is not at the center of the action in the brain; instead, it is far out on a distant edge, hearing but whispers of the activity.
David Eagleman
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The conscious mind is only a small part of the vast activities occurring in the brain.

This quote by David Eagleman emphasizes the idea that our conscious awareness is merely a fraction of the brain's overall processing. Most of the brain's functions and activities occur beneath our conscious level, suggesting that our thoughts and decisions may often be influenced by unconscious processes rather than solely by our conscious reasoning.

Themes

ConsciousnessBrainAwarenessMindUnconscious

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be used in a psychology lecture to illustrate the concept of conscious versus unconscious processing.

More from David Eagleman

It turns out your conscious mind - the part you think of as you - is really the smallest part of what’s happening in your brain, and usually the last one in line to find out any information.
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The three-pound organ in your skull - with its pink consistency of Jell-o - is an alien kind of computational material. It is composed of miniaturized, self-configuring parts, and it vastly outstrips anything we've dreamt of building.
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You´re not perceiving what's out there. You're perceiving whatever your brain tells you.
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