#31 Meet the Harvard Neuroscientist Who Watched Her Own Brain Die! | Dr Jill Bolte Taylor
Get 1 Year of Premium Consensus.AI Completely Free (Use Code THEGIANTSSHOULDER) - https://consensus.app/Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist and author of My Stroke of Insight, one of the most powerful and widely viewed neuroscience stories of all time.At 37, Dr. Taylor suffered a catastrophic hemorrhagic stroke that shut down the entire left hemisphere of her brain. As a brain scientist, she watched her mind unravel from the inside out—losing language, identity, memory, and self. But what she found on the other side wasn’t just silence—it was peace, euphoria, and a profound sense of oneness with the universe.Expect to learn what it feels like to lose your ego, why the present moment can be pure bliss, how the brain builds our sense of self, how trauma and recovery reshape neural circuits, the shocking difference between left and right hemisphere consciousness, what happens when the fear and judgment centers go offline, how Jill rebuilt her brain through neuroplasticity, why she believes anyone can choose peace at any moment, how the Four Characters of the brain drive our behavior, the surprising neuroscience behind “enlightenment,” why psychedelics and stroke are not the same, and much more…...02:00 Introduction to Jill's Fascination with Brains04:51 Understanding Brain Differences: A Personal Journey08:01 Stroke vs. Schizophrenia: Exploring Connections10:56 The Day of the Stroke: A Life-Changing Experience14:05 The Fascination of the Stroke Experience17:10 Cognitive Dissonance During the Stroke19:52 The Aftermath: Recovery and Insights23:02 Comparing Experiences: Stroke and Psychedelics26:08 The Impact of Brain Trauma on Spirituality28:53 Neuroanatomy and Recovery Strategies32:45 The Complexity and Consistency of the Brain34:47 Understanding Neuroplasticity and Learning36:42 The Blessing of a Stroke Experience39:40 Awakening in the Hospital44:23 Choosing Recovery Over Surrender47:10 The Intersection of Science and Spirituality51:44 Motivation to Rewire the Brain58:22 The Journey of Neurogenesis and Recovery01:05:16 The Journey of Recovery and Consciousness01:12:58 Understanding Whole Brain Living01:26:12 Differentiation and Control of Brain States...Buy Dr Jill Bolte Taylors Books My Stroke Of Insight: https://amzn.to/3GsU8gzWhole Brain Living: https://amzn.to/4lV3NgdFollow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants Shoulder Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet at https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL (use Code GIANTSMANTA10)Brain.FM: Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulder)Consensus.AI: AI Powered Research (Use Code THEGIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub)
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#30 Dr Nick Enfield Language Expert: How Language Warps Your Memory, Emotions, Beliefs and Reality itself!
Dr. Nick Enfield is a linguistic anthropologist and author of Language vs. Reality: Why Language Is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists, a mind-bending exploration of how words shape — and distort — the world we live in.Buy Why Language Is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists: https://amzn.to/4cHQImjLanguage isn’t just a tool for communication. It’s a tool for persuasion, manipulation, and coordination. It rewires our perception, memory, emotions, and beliefs — often without us even realizing it.Expect to learn why describing a face can make you forget it, how language evolved not to describe reality but to influence others, why humans are unmatched in social cognition, how categories reshape perception and strip away detail, why smell is nearly impossible to describe in English, how different cultures use language to sculpt emotions and relationships, why learning new languages expands the self, how words create in-groups and out-groups, the dark art of branding and political messaging — and why your sentences might be gaslighting your senses....02:10 The Origins of Language 05:07 The Evolution of Communication 08:17 Language as a Tool for Action 11:16 The Role of Social Cognition 14:19 Language and Tool Use 17:23 The Brain and Language Development 20:11 Language and Memory 23:05 The Subjectivity of Language 25:57 Language Distorting Reality 42:39 Cultural Perception of Smells 44:25 Color Vocabulary and Its Importance 46:45 The Influence of Language on Perception 51:54 Kinship Terms and Cultural Context 58:58 Language and Social Accountability 01:03:46 Emotions and Language Framing 01:12:34 Marketing Language and Brand Identity 01:14:48 The Aesthetic of Branding 01:17:14 The Power of Narrative in Language 01:18:46 The Social Function of Stories 01:22:45 The Role of Stories in Identity Formation 01:30:59 Language as a Tool for Group Identity 01:36:37 The Impact of Language on Perception 01:40:50 Learning Languages to Expand Perspectives ...Follow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants Shoulder Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet at https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL (use Code GIANTSMANTA10)
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#29 Dopamine Expert: How to Rewire your Brain for Meaning in a World Addicted to MORE!
Rules to Enter Competition to WIN Hardback Author Signed Copy of Taming the Molecule of More. 1) Subscribe to the Giant's Shoulder Youtube Channel 2) Like the Video 3) Comment Below Why you would like to Read the Book 4) BONUS ENTRY: Share on instagram or X and tag me. X: https://x.com/evan_mcglInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/giantsshoulder/Mike Long is a playwright, speechwriter, and co-author of Taming the Molecule of More — the practical sequel to the bestselling neuroscience book The Molecule of More.Dopamine doesn’t bring happiness — it brings anticipation. It’s the molecule that keeps us scrolling, swiping, craving, and chasing. But when understood and tamed, it can also drive purpose, focus, and deeply fulfilling lives.Expect to learn why dopamine isn’t about pleasure at all, how it hijacks our relationships, sex lives, and attention spans, the true science behind dopamine fasting and cold plunges, how porn and dating apps rewire the brain’s reward system, the difference between craving and contentment, why “boosting dopamine” is a myth, how to inject novelty into long-term love, how GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic are changing the science of addiction, and how to finally align your brain’s pursuit system with long-term meaning....00:01:55 – Understanding Dopamine: The Molecule of More00:04:56 – The Misconceptions of Dopamine and Happiness00:07:55 – Taming the Molecule of More: Motivations and Insights00:10:56 – Dopamine's Role in Human Evolution and Modern Life00:13:58 – Rewiring the Brain: Valuing the Present vs. Future00:17:07 – The Impact of Technology on Dopamine Levels00:19:49 – Finding Meaning in a Dopamine-Driven World00:23:03 – The Importance of Self-Reflection and Belief Systems00:25:50 – Dopamine Fasting: Myths and Realities00:28:56 – Boosting Dopamine: Exercise and Lifestyle Choices00:43:07 – The Power of Small Daily Actions00:45:25 – Dopamine and Relationships00:51:07 – Understanding Expectations in Relationships00:52:13 – Mindfulness and Reaction to Stimulation00:56:35 – Injecting Novelty into Relationships01:02:26 – Navigating Attraction and Cravings01:07:59 – The Importance of Meaning in Life01:12:27 – Finding Meaning and Purpose01:25:08 – Practical Steps to Manage Impulses...Follow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants Shoulder Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet at https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL (use Code GIANTSMANTA10)
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#28 No. 1 Intuition Expert: Harnessing your Subconscious, Aphantasia and The Future of AI Relationships
Dr. Joel Pearson is a psychologist, neuroscientist, and founder of Future Minds Lab at UNSW — a cutting-edge research group exploring consciousness, intuition, mental imagery, and the psychology of decision-making in the age of AI.He’s the world’s leading expert on aphantasia — the inability to visualize mental images — and author of The Intuition Toolkit, a science-backed guide to harnessing the power of the subconscious mind.Buy the Intuition Toolkit: https://amzn.to/3EjYupBExpect to learn how intuition really works in the brain, the 5 science-based rules for trusting your gut, how to train intuition like a skill, the surprising link between interoception and unconscious decision-making, the neuroscience of flow and instinctive action, what aphantasia reveals about emotion and memory, how visual imagery amplifies anxiety, why some people are immune to mental pictures, how AI companions are already warping human psychology, and what happens when we start outsourcing love to machines…...00:02:03 Exploring the Unconventional Lab of Dr. Joe Pearson00:08:05 Understanding Intuition: Definitions and Mechanisms00:13:50 The Role of Context in Intuition00:17:00 The Neural Mechanisms of Intuition00:19:59 Intuition in Decision Making00:22:54 Practical Applications of Intuition00:26:03 Intuition in Sports and Motor Skills00:32:38 Intuition and Career Choices00:34:47 The Role of Intuition in Decision Making00:38:20 Agency and Mental Health00:39:52 The Science of Intuition00:41:31 Real-Life Applications of Intuition00:45:30 Honing Intuition in Daily Life00:48:39 Flow State and Intuition00:54:13 Improving Intuition in the Lab01:00:31 Measuring the Mind: Psychophysical Technologies01:02:11 Intuition and Learning: Understanding Decision-Making01:05:15 Aphantasia: The Inability to Visualize01:09:34 The Journey into Mental Imagery Research01:12:44 Personal Experiences with Aphantasia01:21:26 Memory and Aphantasia: How Do They Interact?01:29:28 Adaptive Advantages of Aphantasia: A New Perspective01:30:33 Diverse Cognitive Approaches to Mathematics01:31:32 The Emotional Impact of Imagery01:32:57 Risk Perception and Empathy in Aphantasia01:35:09 Understanding Aphantasia Prevalence01:36:28 The Limits of Understanding Aphantasia01:38:38 Exploring Multisensory Aphantasia01:40:23 Future Directions in Aphantasia Research01:43:55 The Psychological Impact of AI01:49:00 The Future of Human-AI Relationships01:51:41 Exciting Developments in Neuroscience...Follow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants Shoulder Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet at https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL (use Code GIANTSMANTA10)
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#27 Meet the Scientist Who Mathematically Proved that Reality is an Illusion! Dr Robert Prentner
Dr. Robert Prentner is a philosopher of mind and consciousness researcher working alongside Donald Hoffman, co-authoring the *Conscious Agent Theory* — a radical scientific framework that challenges our deepest assumptions about reality.Buy The Case Against Reality: How Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes - https://amzn.to/42uSB11According to their work, we don’t perceive the world as it truly is. Our brains evolved not for truth, but for *useful illusion*. Space and time? Icons. Objects? Interface elements. And what you think of as “reality” may be nothing more than a simplified desktop, hiding the chaotic code beneath.Expect to learn why consciousness may be more fundamental than physics, how your brain isn’t conscious — but is simply a representation *within* consciousness, why evolution selected for perception that hides the truth, how AI may already be tapping into conscious patterns, the mind-bending evidence from game theory and mathematics that suggest reality is a constructed hallucination, the key differences between access and phenomenal consciousness, why psychedelics might tear open the interface, what it really means to say “space and time aren’t real,” how the Big Bang fits into this illusion — and much more…...02:08 Perception and Reality: An Introduction 05:05 The Interface Theory of Perception 07:59 Evidence for the Interface Theory 11:15 Complexity of Perception 14:01 Consciousness: Fundamental or Emergent? 17:07 Distinctions in Consciousness 20:05 Panpsychism and Consciousness 23:12 Icons and Their Meaning 25:58 Consciousness in the Animal Kingdom 29:16 Measuring Consciousness 32:10 Space and Time as Constructs 35:12 The Nature of Reality 38:03 Consciousness and the Big Bang 41:02 Experimental Paradigms in Consciousness Research 43:58 Consciousness and Biology 47:10 The Future of Consciousness Research 51:54 The Computability of Consciousness 54:28 Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness 58:25 Psychedelics and Consciousness 01:04:29 The Language of Consciousness 01:10:57 Living with Consciousness 01:17:22 AI and Consciousness ...Follow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants Shoulder Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet at https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL (use Code GIANTSMANTA10)
A Neuroscience podcast. Each week I talk with experts on a range of fascinating topics from consciousness and neuroplasticity to evolution and everything in between. I have a particular interest in using Neuroscience to improve performance, both mental and physical. So that we can live a richer, more fulfilled life.
Evan was CEO and Founder of Weeve Languages for over 4 years and alongside his team developed a novel technique for learning languages. He has a Neuroscience degree from Trinity College Dublin and is a professional tennis coach and amateur Triathlete.
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