To the extent that consciousness is useful, it is useful in small quantities, and for very particular kinds of tasks. It's easy to understand why you would not want to be consciously aware of the intricacies of your muscle movement, but this can be less intuitive when applied to your perceptions, thoughts, and beliefs, which are also final products of the activity of billions of nerve cells.
Really good companies are the ones that are constantly reinventing themselves.
I spoke with Charles Duhigg about habit, unconscious processing and the workspace at the 2016 New Work Summit. Watch the full interview: http://trib.al/1nwghb1
From the Blog
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Brain Time
The days of thinking of time as a river—evenly flowing, always advancing—are over. Time perception, just like vision, is a construction of the brain.
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Radiolab fan? We are too.
We love NPR's Radiolab. If you haven't listened to it yet, you should. Check out several episodes featuring David's science or writing.
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Q & A in New Scientist magazine
Read a Q&A with David in New Scientist to find out his ideas and advice to young scientists.
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The Science of Waiting
For many years I've been studying how human brains perceive the passage of time.
In other news...
SUM is Book of the Year: Chicago Tribune
SUM was chosen as the best book of 2009 by Chicago Tribune's Pulitzer-winning literary critic Julia Keller.
Barnes and Noble Best Book
Barnes and Noble selected SUM as one of the Best Books of the Year.
Musician Jarvis Cocker reads from Sum
Listen to British rocker Jarvis Cocker read the story "Descent of Species" from Sum. He is one of the dozens of terrific voices who read for the audio book.
