Thomas Metzinger explores Consciousness on BSP 67

The free podcast version of Brain Science Podcast 67 is now available. It is an interview with German philosopher Thomas Metzinger, author of The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self and Being No One. Dr. Metzinger argues that any credible model for how the brain generates the mind must incorporate unusual human experiences, such as so-called out of body experiences (OBE), and psychiatric conditions. In this interview we explore how OBE and virtual reality experiments shed light on how the brain generates the sense of self that characterizes normal human experience.

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Scott Sigler on Incorporating Science into Horror Writing

Episode 35 of the Books and Ideas podcast is an interview with best-selling horror writer, Scott Sigler. Scott is widely admired for pioneering the use of podcasting to promote his fiction writing, but so far hasn’t gotten the recognition I think he deserves for incorporating hard science into his unique blend of horror and science fiction.

This interview gave me the opportunity to talk with Scott about how he meets the challenge of incorporating accurate science without sacrificing storytelling. I think this is an excellent follow-up to the interview I did with Sheril Kirshenbaum (co-author of Unscientific America) back in Episode 32.

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Recommended Reading:

Useful Links:

Announcements:

  • Don’t forget to check out the Books and Ideas application for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
  • Books and Ideas will be on hiatus for the next few months while I work on producing and promoting the new premium versions of the Brain Science Podcast.
  • You can get updates by joining our Facebook Fan page or my subscribing to my newsletter.

Memory and the Computational Brain with Randy Gallistel

Episode 66 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Randy Gallistel, PhD, Co-Director of the Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science and co-author (with Adam Philip King) of Memory and the Computational Brain: Why Cognitive Science will Transform Neuroscience. We discuss why read/write memory is an essential element of computation with an emphasis on the animal experiments that support the claim that brains must possess read/write memory. This is significant because current models, such as neural nets, DO NOT incorporate read/write memory in their assumptions about how brains work. It is not necessary to have any background in information theory or computation to appreciate the experiments that are discussed in this episode. Episode 3 and Episode 12 of the Brain Science Podcast provide  background information for this episode.

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Books and Ideas #34: Bruce Hood, author of SuperSense

Episode 34 of Books and Ideas is an interview with Bruce M Hood, author of SuperSense: Why We Believe in the Unbelievable.Dr. Hood is a developmental psychologist with a long-standing interest in why people believe weird things. In SuperSense he argues that innate cognitive structures (how we think without being taught) give people a natural tendency toward belief in the supernatural. Our intuitive sense of how the world works is often at odds with the findings of modern science.

In this interview we discuss the evidence for these conclusions and their implications.

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Episode Transcript (Download PDF)


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References and Links:

  • Bruce Hood’s website
  • SuperSense: Why We Believe in the Unbelievable by Bruce M. Hood
  • Hood, BM, “Gravity Rules for Two-  to Four-Year-Olds?” Cognitive Development 10 (1995): 577-98.
  • Lindeman & Aarnio (2007), “Superstitious, magical, and paranormal beliefs: An integrative model.” Journal of Research in Personality 41, 731–744
  • Lindeman, M. & Saher, M. (2007). “Vitalism, Purpose and Superstition.” British Journal of Psychology, 98(1), 33-44.
  • Lindeman, M. & Aarnio, K. (2006).  “Paranormal beliefs: Their dimensionality and correlates.” European Journal of Personality, 20: 585-602.

Announcements:

  • Get episode transcripts on your iPhone or iPod Touch with the Books and Ideas application.
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  • Books and Ideas and the Brain Science Podcast are supported by listener donations.
  • Coming Soon! Premium versions of both podcasts.

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Please send your comments and feedback to Dr. Campbell at gincampbell at mac dot com.

Brain Science Podcast #65: Jaak Panksepp

Episode 65 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Jaak Panksepp, PhD, author of Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions. Dr. Panksepp has done pioneering work on the neural origins of emotions. In this interview we discuss how his work challenges some of the common assumptions about emotions and some of the important implications of his discoveries. New listeners may want to go back and listen to Episode 11 for an introduction to the neuroscience of emotion.

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Please Help Support Podcaster Tee Morris

Natalie Morris, wife of Tee Morris, fiction writer and author of Podcasting For Dummies died unexpectedly yesterday. Tee has a seven year-old daughter.

Tee is one the people who helped me get started in podcasting. I know I can’t do anything to lesson the pain he feels, but thanks to Scott Sigler I can contribute to a fund to help with the financial burden.

I hope you will help too.

Sign up for the Brain Science Podcast Newsletter

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Books and Ideas #33: Kyla Duffy from Happy Tails Books

Kyla_Bill-200 Episode 33 of Books and Ideas an interview with Kyla Duffy, the founder of Happy Tails Books where she publishes stories about dog rescue. Her goal is to raise awareness of the plight of puppy mill dogs and to raise funds for a wide variety of canine rescue organizations. I discovered her work through my contact with German Shepherd Rescue of Central Alabama.

This episode is more personal than most because I share some of the story of my rescued German Shepherd Jake, and of course, Kyla talks about rescuing a Boston Terrier named Bill (pictured above) led her to start a publishing company.

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Links of Interest:

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Don’t forget to visit http://happytailsbooks.com!

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Brain Science Podcast #64: Third Annual Review

BrainScience-logo1 Episode 64 of the Brain Science Podcast is our Third Annual Review Episode.

It includes a review of some of the major ideas we talked about in 2009 and a look ahead to what I have planned for 2010.

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Click here for details show notes including a complete list of this year’s guest and our reading list.

Books and Ideas Podcast #32: “Unscientific America”

Sheril-150 Episode 32 of Books and Ideas is an interview with Sheril Kirshenbaum, co-author (with Chris Mooney) of Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future. The focus of our interview was on why it is increasingly important that scientists become skilled at communicating what we do to political leaders and to our fellow citizens. Our future depend on solving complex problems (such as global warning and energy issues), which will require accurate scientific knowledge. Unscientific America provides a fresh look at the on-going problem of scientific illiteracy while offering practical suggestions about how we can re-incorporate science into mainstream culture. It calls on scientists of all ages to embrace the role of citizen-scientist.

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References and Links:

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Send feedback to gincampbell at mac dot com or leave voicemail at 206-984-0358.