What Happens With Decisions We Make

More from this episode

1. Who Is Dr. Heather BerlinShe is a long time acquaintance of Bill Nye. He states that Dr.
2. What Are Scientists Trying to Discover With the BrainThey are trying to figure out the neural correlates of consciousness.
3. What Happens When You Have a ThoughtWhen you have a thought, there are specific sets of neurons firing that represent that thought in your brain.
4. What’s the Easy Problem of ConsciousnessThat scientists can track every thought or feeling to a specific set of neurons firing to make a correlation.
5. What’s the Hard Problem of ConsciousnessIt’s being able to bridge the gap of why the physical mechanisms should correspond to a subjective experience.
6. Is It Possible for Scientists to Predict Our ChoicesDr. Berlin states that they can observe the build up of brain activity of a person prior to when they actually make the decision.
7. When Do We Make Better DecisionsWe make better decisions when we allow our unconscious state to operate on many variables to make a decision that way, which is also called post decision…
8. Why Is It Difficult to Remember Boring Things, but Easy to Remember Exciting ThingsDr. Berlin states that first off, the brain cannot remember everything because t would be too much information.
9. Why Do People Tend to React Than the Understand the ConversationThe physiological process of information that goes to your brain is focused on either what you’re hearing or how you will respond next in the conversation.
10. Why Are Proper Nouns Harder to RememberIt’s because they aren’t common or regular nouns. Like a name, you have to really make a conscious effort to associate that name.
11. Why Are We Still So Sleepy When We Wake UpDr. Berlin states that usually when we wake up, it takes about a half hour— subjectively speaking— for the brain to turn on.
12. Why Is No Caffeine Best for SleepingIt’s because your body is seeking a homeostasis to stabilize.
13. Do Physical Activities Help Us Wake Up BetterIt is a useful strategy to implement into your day as you're beginning to wake up. Doing physical activities can increase blood flow to the brain.
14. Is Hypnosis RealDr. Berlin states that hypnosis relates to suggestibility. There parts of our brain that are active and self-aware.
15. What Goes on Between a Hypnotizer and the One Being HypnotizedDr. Berlin states that there’s some sort of silent agreement between them, especially if it’s in front of an audience.
16. Do Hypnotherapy Strategies Really Help UsWhen the prefrontal cortex is turned on, scientists can see that it down regulates memories and emotions that are still affecting our behavior.
17. Did the Matrix Get Anything RightDr. Berlin says it did. One example is the idea that we could have this whole universe within our minds.