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.
David EaglemanRead
You´re not perceiving what's out there. You're perceiving whatever your brain tells you.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our perceptions are shaped by our brain's interpretation rather than direct observation of reality.
This quote by David Eagleman highlights the idea that our understanding of the world is filtered through our brain's interpretations and beliefs. It suggests that what we see and experience is not purely objective reality, but a subjective construct influenced by our thoughts, emotions, and past experiences. This emphasizes the importance of awareness and critical thinking in navigating our perceptions.
Themes
PerceptionBrainRealitySubjectivityInterpretation
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about how biases affect decision making.
More from David Eagleman
All quotes →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 EaglemanRead
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.
David EaglemanRead
Similar quotes
You have to give this much to the Luftwaffe: when it knocked down our buildings it did not replace them with anything more offensive than rubble. We did that.
Prince CharlesRead
Is it not the great end of religion, and, in particular, the glory of Christianity, to extinguish the malignant passions; to curb the violence, to control the appetites, and to smooth the asperities of man; to make us compassionate and kind, and forgiving one to another; to make us good husbands, good fathers, good friends; and to render us active and useful in the discharge of the relative social and civil duties?
William WilberforceRead
A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
American decline is real, though the apocalyptic vision reflects the familiar ruling class perception that anything short of total control amounts to total disaster.
Noam ChomskyRead
Every emotion is keyed into some bodily location, and taken all together, they form the emotional body.
Deepak ChopraRead
Often people display a curious respect for a man drunk, rather like the respect of simple races for the insane... There is something awe-inspiring in one who has lost all inhibitions.
F. Scott FitzgeraldRead