havemehavana

Fascinating intro from UCL neuroscientist Hugo Spiers to the physiology of memory (and thus consciousness) and its impact on the way we live.

Your memories are patterns inscribed in the connections between the millions of neurons in your brain. Each memory has its unique pattern of activity, logged in the vast cellular network every time a memory is formed.

One of our most important living philosophers, Dan Dennett is best known for his provocative and controversial arguments that human consciousness and free will are the result of physical processes in the brain. He argues that the brain’s computational circuitry fools us into thinking we know more than we do, and that what we call consciousness — isn’t.

NY Review of Books