Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman

Is intelligence a property of individual brains, or is it something that emerges from many brains trying to align with one another? How can we build AI agents to improve our understanding of the world and to mediate between rivaling humans? For this and much more, we speak today with Danielle Perszyk, a cognitive scientist who leads the human-computer interaction team at Amazon’s AGI Lab.

What if your confidence in your political beliefs does not correlate with their accuracy? Why does a pundit's outrage often feel so convincing and nuance so unsatisfying? Are conspiracy theories a predictable feature of human brains? Is there any way to stop ourselves from mistaking our feelings for conclusions? How can we come to be clearer thinkers? Today we speak with political commentator Kaizen Asiedu about how we arrive at our hot takes on the world.

Medications are among the most important advancements of science, but their social consequences are often complex. What if some of our most common diseases are design flaws of modern life? Does it matter if we're fixing a root cause rather than just circumventing it? If a pill can quiet hunger, pain, or anxiety, is that "cheating"? Today we talk about the fascinating world of prescription drugs with science journalist Thomas Goetz.

What does it mean for your life to matter? We all talk a lot about happiness, pleasure, and meaning... but what if the real engine underneath it all is the need to feel we count? Is it possible that depression, extremism, and ambition all stem from the same psychological source? When is political polarization less about beliefs and more about threatened significance? Join Eagleman with philosopher and writer Rebecca Goldstein, author of "The Mattering Instinct".

What exactly is hypnosis? We’ve all heard of circus-like versions, but is there a real element to hypnosis that psychiatrists and neuroscientists are able to leverage? Can attention and expectation change what we feel (such as pain or anxiety)? What do suggestible states reveal about the brain’s pathways? How does hypnosis compare to meditation, flow states, or psychedelic drugs? Today we speak with David Spiegel, Stanford psychiatrist and one of the world’s experts in hypnosis.

Happy Holidays- New Episodes starting Jan. 5th Every cell in your body changes, so why do you have a sense of continuity of the self – as though you're the same person you were a month ago? What does this have to do with the watercraft of the Greek demigod Theseus, or the End-of-History illusion, or why you go through so much trouble to make things comfortable for your future self, even though you don't know that person? And if there really were an afterlife, what age would your deity make everyone for living out their eternities? Join this week for a two-parter about the mysteries of selfhood.

Happy Holidays- New episodes starting Jan. 5th Why did lions look so strange in medieval European art? What does this have to do with Native American folklore, eyewitness memory of a car accident, or what a person remembers 3 years after witnessing the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center? And what does any of this have to do with flashbulb memories, misinformation, and the telephone game that you played as a child? Join Eagleman for part 1 of an astonishing journey into what we believe about our memories.

Why will you make different moral decisions in similar circumstances? Why do some people make different choices than you? What happens when ancient moral instincts collide with modern problems such as pandemics, AI alignment, and political tribalism? Could a simple online game reduce polarization? Could you contribute to charities more effectively if you understood how your moral brain decides? Join Eagleman this week with guest Joshua Greene as we open the hood of human morality.

Why do people sometimes buy into ideas that seem obviously false from the outside, as with conspiracy theories? Is this kind of misbelief a universal feature of human brains? Does it offer clarity and belonging when reality feels chaotic and threatening? What would it take for you (under the right emotional conditions) to begin believing something that your past self would find unbelievable? Today we’ll speak with behavioral economist Dan Ariely, who has thought a lot about misbelief: for him it's a scientific question, but also an interest that started very personally.

If AI can do everything from writing novels to designing proteins, what remains that only humans can do? What's the human advantage in a world where machines can outperform us at almost any measurable task? What does any of this have to do with Stephen King’s nightmares, Tom Cruise’s stunts, the first shoeshine caught on camera, the shortage of air conditioner repairmen, and why hyper-capable AI might actually increase the demand for unexpected jobs? Today we speak with author and technologist Andrew Mayne.

How do societies work their way out of polarization? And what does the answer have to do with broken trucks, the Apollo program, the movie 'Watchmen', Iroquois Native Americans, a new idea for social media algorithms, moral taste buds, and how we can take advantage of the common threads that bond us -- coming to see each other again as fellow travelers improvising their way through the same noisy world?

What do propaganda posters have in common across nation and time, and how is that related to the medial prefrontal cortex? What is behind repeating cycles of societal polarization? What does any of this have to do with the American Civil War, hippies vs soldiers, border ruffians vs free-staters, hanging chads, Pearl Harbor, and why education can serve as an immune response to mind viruses?

Would a utopia be possible? Or does our innate tribalism and jealousy make perfect societies difficult to achieve? Do we secretly love hierarchies? Why are primate brains such excellent detectors of unfairness? Why do things become more desirable when we’re told we can’t have them? Did the church’s disavowal of first-cousin marriage lead to better politics? This week Eagleman talks with psychologist Paul Bloom about the (im)possibility of achieving societal utopias.

Imagine we eventually meet some alien scientists. If they can see electrons or smell photons, would their science look like ours? Is physics a universal language, or just a local dialect of the human brain? Would aliens use math, or might their truths be organized unrecognizably? Are the “laws of nature” really laws, or simply our interpretations? Join Eagleman with particle physicist Daniel Whiteson, author of the new book “Do Aliens Speak Physics?”

What is a brain-computer interface? How can a paralyzed person use her brain to control a robotic arm? How can someone who's lost the gift of speech use brain signals to broadcast his voice again? Can we eventually restore autonomy and dignity so seamlessly that the technology disappears and the person reappears? Where are the ethical boundaries between restoring function and spying on private thought? Who owns the stream of neural data that represents you? Join this week with guest neuroscientist Sergey Stavisky as we dive into the world of interfacing brains and machines.

How is sci-fi like a cultural research and development lab? Will we someday have AI agents that live in robot bodies, and will we be liable if they commit murder? What happens when reality is no longer verifiable? How can we create AI advocates that guide us toward self-actualization over distraction? What is a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer? This week we talk with researcher Bethany Maples about science fiction and how it might prepare us to wrestle with the deepest questions about AI, identity, and the future of humanity.

Why do human brains need social interaction? Why might AI chatbots be insufficient to scratch the itch? What do we love so much about real human touch and in-person interaction? Why do so many of us live with dogs? From empathy to introversion to social media to isolation (and what to do about it), we’ve got it all this week with guest Ben Rein, author of the new book Why Brains Need Friends.

How is your consciousness like a flame that continually goes out and gets re-lit? Why can you see other people's eyes move, but you can't see your own eyes move in the mirror? And what does any of this have to do with deep sleep, anesthesia, comas, amnesia, and empires of soft-bodied creatures that came before us? Tune in this week for some science that will shift your view of reality.

On the one hand, AI companions are (increasingly) amazing at rectifying isolation. But on the other hand, loneliness is a biological signal that pushes us toward improving ourselves socially. So what's the right balance here? And does everyone have the same need to cure loneliness? In other words, might AI relationships mess up our young even while providing a critical lifeline to our seniors? Join this week as we dive deep with psychologist Paul Bloom.

Why do people on a date speak in innuendo? Why do dictators squelch protests? Why do humans stand apart from the rest of the animal kingdom by blushing, laughing, and crying? And what does any of this have to do with bullies, George Costanza, or cancel culture? Join this week with cognitive scientist Steven Pinker as we discuss his new book on common knowledge: “When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows”.