Festival Appearance:
- Incognito, Sunday, 5:00 at Decatur Conference Center Stage (Ballroom A)
David Eagleman (who has been called the Carl Sagan of neuroscience) is a scientist and best-selling author who provides a new framework for understanding our brains -- and, by extension, ourselves. His work deals with everything from how the brain rewires itself to why art and science must learn from each other. Known for a unique and active exploration of ideas, he throws himself into experiments, literally: he once dropped himself in free fall from a 150-foot tower to see if time could be perceived in slow-motion during times of fear.
Erudite, engaging, and able to connect scientific discovery to daily life, Eagleman prompts us to celebrate the beauty of the brain, question what we perceive as reality, and re-think what we know about human nature.
He holds joint appointments in the Departments of Neuroscience and Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and is the founder and director of the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law. His influential neuroscience books include Incognito, Live-Wired, and Wednesday is Indigo Blue. He writes regularly for The New York Times, Wired, Discover, Slate, and NewScientist, and is a repeat guest on NPR, discussing both science and literature -- his twin passions. His novel, SUM, is an international bestseller and inspired U2 producer Brian Eno to write twelve new pieces of music, which he performed, with Eagleman, at the Sydney Opera House.
Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, 2011
If the conscious mind -- the part you consider to be you -- is just the tip of the iceberg, what is the rest doing?
In this sparkling and provocative new book, the renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman navigates the depths of the subconscious brain to illuminate surprising mysteries: Why can your foot move halfway to the brake pedal before you become consciously aware of danger ahead? Why do you hear your name being mentioned in a conversation that you didn’t think you were listening to? What do Ulysses and the credit crunch have in common? Why did Thomas Edison electrocute an elephant in 1916? Why are people whose names begin with J more likely to marry other people whose names begin with J? Why is it so difficult to keep a secret? And how is it possible to get angry at yourself -- who, exactly, is mad at whom?
Taking in brain damage, plane spotting, dating, drugs, beauty, infidelity, synesthesia, criminal law, artificial intelligence, and visual illusions, Incognito is a thrilling subsurface exploration of the mind and all its contradictions.
