The Brain with David Eagleman

Dr. David Eagleman demonstrates the Chinese Room thought experiment, which exposes the enduring mystery of how physical pieces and parts give rise to our experience of the world.

Science and technology are giving us the tools to push the boundaries of the human life cycle.

Dr. David Eagleman journeys into the future, and asks what’s next for the human brain, and for our species. He reveals that in the future our descendants may be so different to us that we will be strangers to them.

It may be the case that the software of the brain can run on different platforms. Swapping out cells for circuits; oxygen for electricity it may be possible for the mind to one day exist digitally.

Dr. David Eagleman visits the Houston Zoo to see how a colony of ants, working together, can give rise to something much greater than the sum of its parts. And so it may be with the brain.

David visits Alcor Life Extension Foundation where CEO Max More explains that the team’s aim is to give people a second chance at life.

David meets iCub, a humanoid robot that is designed to interact and learn from the world.

Although we come to the table with the senses that we have evolved with, like our eyes, ears, and our sense of touch, in theory there is no limit to the number of new senses we may create in the future. The brain is so flexible that it may be possible that, for instance, we develop new sensory channels that allow us to perceive weather data or stock market data.

Imagine life inside a computer, in a simulated world. Could we be there already?

Sebastian Seung explains how he and his team are beginning to build a three dimensional map of the brain’s connections, starting with a mouse brain.

When we watch someone else in pain our brains run a simulation of what that pain feels like. This ability to imagine another's pain is the basis of how we relate to each other and explains why stories can be so powerful.

Genocide is only possible when dehumanization happens on a massive scale, and propaganda is the tool used to do that. Propaganda plugs directly into neural networks, and dials down the degree to which one group cares about another.