Frogs and the Frog Brain

Brains arrive at the conclusion that they have an internal, subjective experience of things — an experience that is non-physical and inexplicable. How can such a thing be studied scientifically?

That is just part of the mission behind Michael Graziano’s lab. He is a professor of neuroscience and psychology at Princeton University, and the author of  “The Intelligent Movement Machine: An Ethological Perspective on the Primate Motor System”, “God Soul Mind Brain: A Neuroscientist's Reflections on the Spirit World”, and “Rethinking Consciousness: A Scientific Theory of Subjective Experience”, to name a few. 

Michael and Greg dive into consciousness, what we mean when we talk about schemas, how we inhabit our bodies, and the sophisticated attention that makes humans what we are. 

Episode Quotes:

Theory of preserving bodies in the future:

It is kind of assumed in the futurism world, assumed that technology is forever and the human body is fragile. And so what you want to do is upload yourself into a machine or put your body into a robot and then you'll live forever or whatever the fantasy is. It is true that the exact opposite is what actually happens. That a human body, if taken care of properly lives 90 to 100 years. And your typical machine lasts 10 years. So actually the approach to technology would have to change also. If you want this kind of longevity that people are looking for. Because the machine world is actually not a long lived world. Machines break a lot faster than biological bodies break, at least right now they do.

Question of consciousness:

I think I'm a little unusual. Because most people think the question of consciousness is a question of philosophy. And it is that partly. I think it's a question of technology and the immediate near term future of technology. That's what the question of consciousness really is right now. 

Humans & theory of mind:

[00:36:16] There are different views on this, here's what I think. Humans are hyper social. Our success as a species, our world dominance, rests entirely on our amazing, intuitive ability to guess what someone else is thinking. So theory of mind or building models of other people's minds. Without that, we're nothing, we're just separate animals. With that, we’re civilization.

How the brain constructs models:

The brain constructs models that are useful. It does not construct models that are literally accurate. Like that's not the point. Evolution does not give us models that are literally accurate to edify us with scientific accuracy, no. Evolution shapes, models that are useful.

Show Links:

Guest Profile:

• Faculty Profile at Princeton Neuroscience Institute
• Michael Graziano on Linkedin
• Michael Graziano on TEDxCornellUniversity

His work:

• Graziano Lab
• Rethinking Consciousness: A Scientific Theory of Subjective Experience 
• The Intelligent Movement Machine: An Ethological Perspective on the Primate Motor System
• God Soul Mind Brain: A Neuroscientist's Reflections on the Spirit World
• Death My Own Way
• The Divine Farce
• The Love Song of Monkey
• The Last Notebook of Leonardo (LeapKids)
• Squiggle (LeapKids)
• Billy and the Birdfrogs
• The Spaces Between Us: A Story of Neuroscience, Evolution, and Human Nature Consciousness and the Social Brain

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