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The Giants Shoulder
Evan McGloughlin
53 episodes
3 days ago
A Neuroscience podcast. Each week I talk with experts on a range of topics from consciousness and neuroplasticity to evolution and everything in between. I have a particular interest in consciousness and understanding our inner subjective conscious experience. Evan has a Neuroscience degree from Trinity College Dublin and is the co-founder of 2 (failed) edtech startups. He is a professional tennis coach and Triathlete enthusiast.
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All content for The Giants Shoulder is the property of Evan McGloughlin and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
A Neuroscience podcast. Each week I talk with experts on a range of topics from consciousness and neuroplasticity to evolution and everything in between. I have a particular interest in consciousness and understanding our inner subjective conscious experience. Evan has a Neuroscience degree from Trinity College Dublin and is the co-founder of 2 (failed) edtech startups. He is a professional tennis coach and Triathlete enthusiast.
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Life Sciences
Science
Episodes (20/53)
The Giants Shoulder
#46 Meet the Psychiatrist Debunking The Chemical Imbalance Myth That Fooled Millions!

Dr. Joanna Moncrieff is a psychiatrist, researcher, and author of The Myth of the Chemical Cure and Chemically Imbalanced, whose work has radically challenged one of the most powerful ideas in modern psychiatry — that depression is caused by a serotonin imbalance. Her landmark 2022 review in Molecular Psychiatry dismantled the serotonin hypothesis, exposing how Big Pharma turned a shaky theory into a multi‑billion‑dollar industry.

Read the review: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-022-01661-0

Expect to learn why the serotonin “chemical imbalance” story became the biggest myth in mental health, how SSRIs actually work — and why their benefits may be no greater than placebo, the shocking prevalence of emotional blunting and sexual dysfunction, why nearly 1 in 4 women in the UK are now on antidepressants, how Big Pharma engineered one of the most influential disinformation campaigns in medicine, what depression really is if not a brain disorder, why environmental factors far outweigh genes, the overlooked power of placebo, and why Joanna believes SSRIs may be doing more harm than good.

Timestamps:

00:03:10 The Serotonin Hypothesis of Depression

00:06:13 Challenging Conventional Psychiatric Narratives

00:09:08 The Role of Big Pharma in Mental Health

00:12:02 Public Reaction to New Findings

00:15:14 The Impact of Misinformation on Patients

00:18:10 Understanding SSRIs and Their Effects

00:21:07 The Pharmaceutical Industry's Influence

00:23:40 The Relationship Between Healthcare and Pharma

00:26:28 Current State of Antidepressant Research

00:29:26 Efficacy and Side Effects of SSRIs

00:32:19 Emotional Blunting and Sexual Dysfunction

00:35:45 Long-term Effects of Antidepressants

00:43:57 Concerns Over Antidepressants and Sexual Dysfunction

00:49:01 Understanding Depression: A Complex Emotional Reaction

0:54:33 The Role of Serotonin in Mood Disorders

01:00:11 Genetic Influences on Depression

01:13:25 Rethinking Treatment Approaches for Depression

01:19:27 Psychedelics: Potential and Pitfalls in Mental Health Treatment

...


_Follow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants Shoulder_ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126

Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249


_Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)_Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )[Brain.FM](http://brain.fm/): Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulder)[Consensus.AI](http://consensus.ai/): AI Powered Research (Use Code THEGIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub)

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2 days ago
1 hour 30 minutes 23 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#45 Meet the Scientist Who Brought Quantum Mechanics to Biology!

Johnjoe McFadden is a molecular geneticist, consciousness theorist, and best-selling co-author of Life on the Edge — the book that brought quantum mechanics into biology and shattered how we think about life itself.

He pioneered the first fully electronic rapid diagnostic test for deadly diseases like meningitis and COVID, and his groundbreaking work helped create the field of quantum biology — showing how enzymes, photosynthesis, even bird migration rely on quantum weirdness to function.

His bold CEMI Field Theory claims that your consciousness isn’t locked in your neuron's at all — it’s broadcast through your brain’s electromagnetic field. If true, it could finally solve the binding problem and change everything we know about the mind.

Expect to learn why life depends on quantum particles dancing through your cells, how robins literally see the Earth’s magnetic field, why DNA mutations may be driven by quantum tunnelling, why quantum biology might hold the key to free will, and how the brain’s invisible field could be the seat of your conscious experience — plus what that means for AI, evolution, and the very nature of reality...

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

02:50 Introduction to Quantum Biology

04:49 Bird Navigation and Quantum Mechanics

16:47 The Spark of Interest in Quantum Biology

24:38 Quantum Mechanics in Biological Processes

26:48 Challenges of Quantum Mechanics in Biology

32:34 Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics

50:00 The Nature of Light and Time

50:30 Photon Journey: From Sun to Retina

51:27 Consciousness and Electromagnetic Fields

53:18 Unified Information in the Brain

54:47 The Brain's Electromagnetic Field and Consciousness

56:16 Fields vs. Matter: Understanding Consciousness

57:39 Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness

58:50 The Interaction of Neural Circuits and EM Fields

61:06 Conscious Behaviour and EM Field Dynamics

01:03:25 Neuron's as Receivers of Electromagnetic Information

01:05:42 The Relationship Between Brain and EM Field

01:06:40 Unconscious Information and EM Field Integration

01:13:53 Non-Conscious vs. Conscious Processing

01:17:25 Intuition and Unconscious Integration

01:22:46 The Role of EEG in Consciousness Research

01:23:36 Consciousness in Bacteria and Animals

01:28:16 Panpsychism and the Nature of Consciousness

01:28:23 The Future of AI and Consciousness

...


📚 RECOMMENDED READINGLife on the Edge: The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology: https://amzn.to/4lQQey0

Life is Simple: How Occam's Razor Set Science Free And Unlocked the Universe: https://amzn.to/3IMuCEk

Quantum Evolution: Life in the Multiverse: https://amzn.to/450UvsR…


_Follow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants Shoulder_ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126

Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249


_Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)_

Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )[Brain.FM](http://brain.fm/): Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulder)[Consensus.AI](http://consensus.ai/): AI Powered Research (Use Code THEGIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub)

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6 days ago
1 hour 32 minutes 30 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#44 Meet the Neuroscientist Using AI to Unlock the Secrets of Language! Dr Evelina Federenko

Dr. Evelina Fedorenko is a cognitive neuroscientist at MIT and one of the world’s leading experts on how the brain processes language.

She’s mapped the brain’s language system more precisely than anyone, proving it’s a specialized network — not shared with general thought — and that our inner monologue? It might be an illusion. Now, her lab is using large language models like GPT to predict and even control neural activity in human language regions, revealing uncanny parallels between artificial and biological intelligence.

Expect to learn why you don’t actually think in words, how language and thought are distinct systems in the brain, why GPT-style models light up the same brain regions as human speech, what “drive” and “suppress” sentences reveal about how we process meaning, how hyperpolyglots learn 20+ languages using the same neural real estate, how bilingualism changes your brain, what language does that other mammals never evolved, how AI could reshape neuroscience research, whether machines could ever be conscious — and much more…

Timestamps:

03:05 The Surprising Rise of LLM Technology

08:06 Neuroscience and AI: Uncovering the Brain's Mysteries 13:01 Exploring Model and Brain Similarities

18:06 Functional Specialization in AI and Human Brains

23:04 Convergence of Models: Approximating Reality

26:01 Future Directions in Neuroscience and AI

34:24 Exploring Innateness in Cognitive Development

35:58 Driving and Suppressing Sentences in Language Processing

39:54 Super Stimuli: Language System Preferences

42:37 Language Processing Across Development

46:16 Aphantasia and Inner Speech

52:57 Subjectivity of Inner Experience

57:57 The Brains of Hyperpolyglots

58:32 The Language Processing of Polyglots

01:01:49 Comparing Early Multilinguals and Late Language Learners

01:03:21 Understanding Language Activation in the Brain 01:05:24 Implications for Language Learning and Education 01:08:49 The Intersection of Language and Self-Identity 01:13:27 Consciousness and AI: A Philosophical Inquiry

01:18:18 Human Behavior vs. AI: The Greater Concern

01:19:48 Future Research Directions in Language and Reasoning

...


Follow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants Shoulder

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126

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Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )

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1 week ago
1 hour 28 minutes 19 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#43 Nick Lane: Origin of Life, Aliens, Metabolism, Bioelectricity, Consciousness and Ai!

Nick Lane is a biochemist, Professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry at University College London, and author of Transformer, The Vital Question, and Power, Sex, Suicide — books that have revolutionised how we think about the origin of life, complexity, and the deep chemistry powering consciousness.

Life, Lane argues, didn’t begin in a soup but in the cracks of the seafloor — powered not by sunlight, but by geochemical gradients, ancient electricity, and the quiet inevitability of metabolism. And astonishingly, those same forces still flow through your cells — and possibly your mind.

Expect to learn how life may have started in alkaline hydrothermal vents, why proton gradients might be more fundamental than DNA, how ATP synthase works like a microscopic motor powered by a field strength equal to a bolt of lightning, why mitochondria changed everything for complex life, how consciousness could emerge from electrical charge flow, whether bacterial cells might have feelings, why Lane rejects panpsychism but entertains “cellular sentience,” how the structure of life reflects planetary energy flow, and what this all means for AI, aging, and the nature of being alive.

Timestamps: 00:00 A Deep Dive into the Origins of Life03:57 The Cathedral of Life: Hydrothermal Vents as the Cradle09:45 Thermodynamics, CO₂, and the Secret of Organic Chemistry13:40 From Geochemistry to Biochemistry18:32 The First Energy Systems and Proton Gradients24:00 ATP Synthase and the Universal Energy Machine28:57 Why Life Isn’t Just Chemistry—It’s System Design32:34 Life Beyond Carbon? The Case for Biochemical Inevitability39:04 Mitochondria, Endosymbiosis, and the Rise of Complexity46:02 Why Mitochondria Hold the Key to Eukaryotic Life51:28 The Real Reason Complex Life Took So Long to Emerge56:21 Scaling Energy: How Big Cells Became Possible01:02:30 Death, Aging, and the Bioelectric Clock01:08:04 Why Mitochondria Can Be a Double-Edged Sword01:14:25 Are We Overrating Neural Complexity?01:20:48 Bioelectricity and the Architecture of Development01:27:13 Could Consciousness Emerge Without a Brain?01:34:00 Mitochondria, Voltage Maps, and the Future of Bioelectric Science01:39:03 Feelings as Electric Readouts of Metabolic State01:44:12 Can Anesthetics Unlock the Mystery of Consciousness?01:50:00 A Spectrum of Consciousness—Even Bacteria Feel?01:56:15 Karl Friston, Free Energy, and the Bayesian Cell02:02:15 The Neural Correlates of Consciousness — A Failed Bet?02:07:04 Metabolism-First Consciousness: Nick’s Radical Hypothesis02:08:38 Is It ATP or Electrical Fields That Matter Most?02:13:20 Why Studying Fruit Flies Could Answer the Consciousness Question02:20:54 How Naming Genes Distorts Scientific Thinking02:23:45 Making Science Poetic — Lane’s Legacy02:24:17 Nick Lane’s Next Book: From CO₂ to Cells02:28:52 Final Reflections on the Story of Life and Consciousness...📚 RECOMMENDED READINGVital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life: https://amzn.to/4lrrBb6Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the meaning of life: https://amzn.to/4nVV6DBTransformer: The Deep Chemistry of Life and Death: https://amzn.to/3IbT69QLife Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution: https://amzn.to/4eF3v9S…_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/id1752486249_Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)_Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )[Brain.FM](http://brain.fm/): Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulder)[Consensus.AI](http://consensus.ai/): AI Powered Research (Use Code THEGIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub)

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1 week ago
2 hours 30 minutes 49 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#42 Meet Dr Michael Levin The Scientist Creating New Forms of Synthetic Life!

Dr. Michael Levin is a biologist, computer scientist, and co-creator of the Xenobot — the world’s first living, programmable organism, built entirely from frog skin and heart cells. These tiny constructs can move, heal, and even replicate — making them the first-ever synthetic life forms capable of self-replication.

But this is just the beginning.

Dr. Levin’s research into bioelectricity is flipping biology on its head. He’s shown that cells use electrical signals — not just genes — to communicate, store memories, and make decisions. He’s grown eyes on tadpole tails, regenerated limbs, and reprogrammed cancer — all by changing cellular voltage, not DNA.Expect to learn why intelligence might exist in every tissue of your body, how cells solve problems without brains, why memory can persist even after decapitation, how Xenobots replicate without a genetic blueprint, why bioelectricity may be the true architecture of consciousness, how Levin’s discoveries could transform medicine, ethics, and AI — and why your liver might be more self-aware than you think.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

05:30 Introduction to Xenobots

08:17 The Discovery and Behavior of Xenobots

11:16 Understanding Agential Material and Intelligence

14:19 Sensory Capabilities and Environmental Interaction 17:28 The Continuum of Cognition and Language Challenges 20:27 The Nature of Transformation and Development

23:44 The Relationship Between Cells and Xenobots

33:40 The Development of Xenobots

37:18 The Role of AI in Xenobot Experimentation

38:14 Collective Behavior and Interaction of Xenobots

40:08 Exploring the Potential of Different Cell Types

42:02 Human Cells and Their Capabilities

43:54 Predicting Behavior in Xenobots and Anthropobots 45:44 The Healing Abilities of Anthropobots

47:08 Consciousness and Cognitive Capacity in Xenobots 48:57 The Criteria for Attributing Consciousness

51:49 The Hard Problem of Consciousness

53:32 The Emergence of Subjectivity in Simple Organisms 55:23 The Theory of Consciousness and Its Implications 60:29 The Ethical Responsibilities of Scientific Advancements

...

Video credits:

Xenobots: Douglas Blackiston and Sam Kriegman

Anthrobots: Gizem Gumuskaya, Levin lab


_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/id1752486249


_Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)_

Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )[Brain.FM](http://brain.fm/): Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulder)[Consensus.AI](http://consensus.ai/): AI Powered Research (Use Code THEGIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub)

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2 weeks ago
1 hour 6 minutes 43 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#41 No. 1 Reality Theorist: Consciousness, Quantum Fields, The Weird Experiment that Disproves Spacetime!

James Glattfelder is a physicist and complexity theorist turned philosopher of mind and reality, and author of The Sapient Cosmos — a provocative attempt to rethink the universe as fundamentally conscious and informational.

Forget what you think you know about space, time, matter, or even consciousness. Glattfelder believes that reality isn’t built from particles, but from information — and that consciousness might not emerge from brains, but be the very substrate of the cosmos itself.

Expect to learn what information really is and why it might be more fundamental than matter, how quantum field theory dismantles our intuitions about physical reality, why space and time might be illusions, how Integrated Information Theory bridges consciousness and physics, whether psychedelics are revealing a deeper layer of reality or just distorting it, how idealism offers an alternative to materialism, what syncretic idealism actually means, and why the hard problem of consciousness might only be hard because we’re asking the wrong questions.

This is an episode for anyone who’s ever wondered whether the universe might be thinking — and whether we’re just the thoughts.

Timestamps:

03:11 Exploring Consciousness: The Fundamental Question

06:10 The Shift in Scientific Perspectives on Consciousness

09:07 Idealism vs. Physicalism: A Philosophical Debate

12:10 Cultural Influences on Beliefs about Consciousness

14:56 The Role of Psychedelics in Understanding Consciousness

18:12 Agency and Free Will: The Biological Perspective

21:02 The Intersection of Religion and Idealism

24:04 Meaning and Purpose: Idealism vs. Nihilism

27:17 The Nature of Reality: Bridging Science and Philosophy

30:02 The Emergence of Consciousness: A Biological Framework

33:06 Challenges in Understanding Consciousness

36:13 Expanding Knowledge: Beyond Rational Understanding

42:22 Exploring Consciousness Beyond Biology

43:52 The Cosmic Play: Understanding Consciousness

47:08 Information as the Foundation of Reality

48:56 The Nature of Information in Physics

55:53 Quantum Mechanics and the Observer Effect

01:00:15 The Illusion of Objective Reality

01:04:42 Understanding the Observer Effect in Quantum Mechanics

01:09:49 The Resistance to New Ideas in Science

01:14:52 The Dunning-Kruger Effect and Knowledge

01:16:10 Are Quantum Fields Conscious?

01:17:07 Exploring the Philosophy of Psychedelics

01:20:02 The Impact of Psychedelics on Ego and Consciousness

01:22:45 Metaphysical Beliefs and Their Influence on Perception

01:28:01 Telepathy and Collective Intelligence

01:33:15 The Nature of Life and Consciousness

01:38:53 Transforming Consciousness and Societal Values

...


📚 RECOMMENDED READING

Information—Consciousness—Reality: How a New Understanding of the Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions of Existence: https://amzn.to/4exvmc3

The Sapient Cosmos: What a modern-day synthesis of science and philosophy teaches us about the emergence of information, consciousness, and meaning: https://amzn.to/4ezGUvt…

_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/id1752486249_Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)_Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )[Brain.FM](http://brain.fm/): Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulder)[Consensus.AI](http://consensus.ai/): AI Powered Research (Use Code THEGIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub)

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1 month ago
1 hour 53 minutes 5 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#40 Learning Expert: Hallucinated Reality, Rewiring Baby Brains, Emotions, Learning & Ai!

Dr. Mark Williams is a cognitive neuroscientist, author of The Connected Species, and one of the world’s leading experts on how we learn, connect, and perceive reality — and why modern life may be rewiring our brains in ways we don’t fully understand.

Your brain is not showing you the world as it is — it’s hallucinating a version that helps you survive. And that illusion is breaking down. Especially for children.

Expect to learn why reality itself is a convincing hallucination created by your brain, how technology is disrupting emotional development and attention in kids, why screen time is linked to lower empathy and memory, how facial expressions are learned (and what happens when they aren’t), why multitasking ruins learning, how AI could both help and harm education, why sleep is critical for memory, why writing is better than typing, and how to reimagine schools based on what the brain actually needs.

Plus — the incredible story of how Dr. Williams went from high-school dropout to MIT neuroscientist, and what it taught him about human potential.

Timestamps:

00:02:55 The Illusion of Reality: How Our Brain Constructs Perception

00:09:26 Mark Williams: A Journey from Struggles to Neuroscience

00:16:46 Reimagining Education: Connection Over Curriculum

00:20:58 The Role of AI in Education: Opportunities and Challenges

00:29:45 Neuroscience Insights: Learning, Memory, and Effective Education

00:36:16 The Role of Ancillary Learning in Neuroscience

00:37:25 Effective Learning Strategies and Common Mistakes

00:40:29 The Impact of AI on Learning

00:42:47 Engagement vs. Entertainment in Education

00:42:58 The Distraction of Mobile Devices in Classrooms

00:45:52 The Importance of Handwriting and Note-Taking

00:48:25 The Value of Effort in Learning

00:51:05 Teaching Neuroscience to Educators

00:54:51 The Importance of Social Interaction for Learning

00:57:06 Attention Spans and Mental Health Concerns

01:02:21 The Loneliness Epidemic Among Youth

01:03:39 Applying Neuroscience to Daily Life

...


📚 RECOMMENDED READING

The Connected Species: How the Evolution of the Human Brain Can Save the World: https://amzn.to/44gSTcv…

_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/id1752486249_Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)_Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )[Brain.FM](http://brain.fm/): Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulder)[Consensus.AI](http://consensus.ai/): AI Powered Research (Use Code THEGIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub)

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1 month ago
1 hour 9 minutes 2 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#39 Consciousness Expert: Alien Minds, Insane Biology and the Evolution of Subjectivity!

Peter Godfrey-Smith is a philosopher of biology, diver, and author of Other Minds and Metazoa — two of the most important works on animal consciousness ever written.

His research explores the octopus not just as an animal, but as an alien intelligence that evolved a complex mind entirely separate from our own.

Octopuses have distributed brains in their arms, no cultural learning, no social lives — and yet they solve problems, play, and even throw objects in rage. They live just 1 to 2 years, mate once, and die — raising a profound question: why would evolution build a mind this sophisticated, only to delete it almost immediately?

Expect to learn why octopus intelligence forces us to rethink consciousness, how their nervous system creates agency without central control, what their bizarre lifespan reveals about the trade-offs of intelligence, why cultural learning might not be necessary for sentience, whether octopuses might dream, and what this means for how subjective experience evolved on Earth. You'll also learn how consciousness may have emerged from sensory integration, how language reshaped the human mind, why inner speech might be the key to unified awareness, whether arms can think, if AI can ever feel — and why octopuses might be the only creatures smart enough to understand what they are, but not live long enough to tell us.


Timestamps:

03:25 The Puzzling Lifespan of Octopuses

06:26 Evolutionary Strategies and Reproductive Behavior

09:24 Intelligence and Learning in Octopuses

12:15 Exploratory Behavior and Individual Learning

15:38 Social Interactions and Octopus Communities

18:36 Diving Adventures and Empathy for Octopuses

21:12 The Nervous System of the Octopus

24:23 Consciousness and Subjective Experience in Octopuses

45:22 Exploring Subjectivity in Non-Human Animals

48:16 The Role of Nervous Systems in Consciousness

53:51 The Evolution of Subjectivity

59:32 Language as a Transformative Tool

01:03:56 The Complexity of Human Consciousness

01:12:47 Challenges in Consciousness Research

01:17:39 Ethics in Neuroscience Research

...


📚 RECOMMENDED READING

Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness: https://amzn.to/466QILh

Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind: https://amzn.to/3SXBSiD

Living on Earth: Forests, Corals, Consciousness, and the Making of the World: https://amzn.to/3T2QMUJ

Theory and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, Second Edition: https://amzn.to/3SZpiPK

…


_Follow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants Shoulder_

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249


_Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)_

Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )

Brain.FM(http://brain.fm/): Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulder)

Consensus.AI(http://consensus.ai/): AI Powered Research (Use Code THEGIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub)

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1 month ago
1 hour 22 minutes 59 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#38 Meet the Drug & Brain Expert Fired For Exposing the Truth! Dr David Nutt

Professor David Nutt is the neuro­psychopharmacologist who built the world’s first science-based drug-harm scale, led the pioneering LSD brain-scan, and lost his post as the UK government’s chief drug adviser after declaring that alcohol is deadlier than LSD.

He’s the author of *Drugs Without the Hot Air, Drink?, Cannabis,* and *Psychedelics*, and he’s now engineering a hangover-free alternative to booze.

Buy Nutt's Books Drink?: The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health: https://amzn.to/4dZTP9Z

Psychedelics: The Revolutionary Drugs That Could Change Your Life―A Guide from the Expert: https://amzn.to/3SJXAX6

Drugs without the hot air: Making sense of legal and illegal drugs: https://amzn.to/4kyu7eS

Cannabis (Seeing Through the Smoke): The New Science of Cannabis and Your Health: https://amzn.to/3FOiLo2

Drug policy isn’t broken by accident—it’s broken by design. From kids denied life-saving cannabis to a global war on psychedelics that stalled mental-health breakthroughs for half a century, Professor Nutt reveals how politics trumped evidence, how psychedelic science is staging a comeback, and why the next revolution in public health might be an alcohol you can enjoy without poisoning your liver.

Expect to learn why alcohol tops the real league table of harm, how the famous drug-harm chart was built (and banned), what happened inside the MRI during the first LSD scan, the truth about cannabis and schizophrenia, how MDMA treats PTSD and ketamine tackles addiction, why prohibition breeds deadlier drugs like fentanyl, how hangover-free “Alcarelle” targets GABA without the toxic fallout, the regulatory red tape still strangling psychedelic research, practical advice for safer drug policy, and much more…

…00:00 Intro

02:35 The Truth About Drugs: A Controversial Revelation

05:32 The Political Landscape of Drug Policy

08:23 The Evidence vs. Beliefs: A Scientific Approach

11:36 The Role of Alcohol in Drug Policy

14:32 The Impact of Political Decisions on Drug Legislation

17:27 The Historical Context of Drug Bans

20:34 The Case of Medical Cannabis: A Heartbreaking Story

30:59 The Politics of Cannabis Legislation

33:06 Medical Cannabis: A Health Scandal

36:25 The Role of Medical Professionals

38:35 Neuroscience and Cannabis: Risks and Benefits

42:36 The Consequences of Drug Prohibition

50:47 Successful Drug Policies: Lessons from Portugal

55:38 The Case for Recreational Cannabis Legalization

…

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1 month ago
57 minutes 43 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#37 Expert Palaeontologist: Direwolf De-Extinction, Dinosaur Myths, Brains and Sex! Dr David Hone

Get Manta Sleep Mask. Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 - https://bit.ly/4ilzfBLDr. David Hone is a paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and author of How Fast Did T. rex Run?, a myth-busting investigation into the surprising behavior, intelligence, and complexity of dinosaurs.Forget the lumbering monsters of Jurassic Park — dinosaurs were social, strategic, and sometimes even spectacularly weird. From display structures and pack hunting to nesting behaviour and brain evolution, Dr. Hone’s work reveals the dynamic lives these creatures once lived.Expect to learn why T. rex might not have been the top predator we imagine, how dinosaurs used feathers and horns to flirt rather than fight, whether some species cared for their young, what fossils can really tell us about intelligence, what Netflix’s Life on Our Planet got wrong and why de-extinction efforts like those by Colossal Biosciences may be based on misleading science — plus much more....02:23 The Journey into Paleontology 03:39 A Day in the Life of a Reader in Zoology 05:20 Motivations Behind Writing on Dinosaur Behavior 06:06 Understanding Dinosaur Behavior: Methods and Evidence 10:05 The Public Perception vs. Scientific Reality 11:27 Group Behaviour in Dinosaurs: Myths and Facts 12:38 Reliability of Current Knowledge on Dinosaur Behavior 20:13 Learning from Modern Animals 26:37 Lifespan and Mortality of Dinosaurs 36:08 Common Misconceptions About Dinosaurs 38:32 The Evolution of Dinosaur Representation in Media 41:16 Groundbreaking Discoveries in Paleontology 45:15 The Role of AI in Paleontological Research 58:43 The Quest for Dinosaur DNA and Soft Tissue 01:08:04 Taxonomy and the Ethics of De-Extinction 01:13:36 Defining Species and Genetic Manipulation 01:16:12 The Ethics of De-extinction 01:18:58 The Tasmanian Tiger: A Case for De-extinction? 01:21:06 The Role of Venture Capital in Genetic Projects 01:23:43 Media Representation of Scientific Advances 01:25:30 Dinosaur Recreation in Media: Accuracy vs. Entertainment 01:37:37 Understanding Animal Behaviour and Rituals 01:45:07 The Future of Paleontology and Technological Advances 01:53:07 The Value of Paleontology in Society and Science 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 (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )[Brain.FM](http://brain.fm/): Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulder)[Consensus.AI](http://consensus.ai/): AI Powered Research (Use Code THEGIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub)

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1 month ago
2 hours 1 minute 20 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#36 I Challenged the World’s #1 Child-Attachment Expert! Erica Komisar

Get Manta Sleep Mask. Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 - https://bit.ly/4ilzfBLErica Komisar is a psychoanalyst, clinical social worker, and author of *Chicken Little, The Sky Isn’t Falling*, a fiercely debated book about raising resilient adolescents in an anxious world.Buy Erica's Book: https://amzn.to/4dvh8YXWith over three decades of clinical experience, Erica argues that the roots of childhood mental illness—depression, anxiety, even ADHD—can be traced back to emotional stress in the earliest years of life, especially when children are deprived of consistent, attuned caregiving. And yes, that means daycare is in the firing line.Expect to learn why Erica believes ADHD is not a disorder but a stress response, how early separation affects a child’s ability to regulate emotions, the neuroscience of attachment and the mother-infant bond, how economic realities clash with developmental needs, what Erica thinks most studies on daycare get wrong, how fathers and same-sex couples fit into the attachment equation, why many modern parenting myths are dangerous, and much more…Correction: I state in the guest intro that Erica is a doctor, this is an error. Erica Komisar is not a PhD, MD or doctor of any kind. My mistake. …02:50 Myths of Parenting08:47 The Role of the Primary Attachment Figure14:59 Consequences of Distributed Attachment20:50 Economic Realities and Parenting Choices22:51 The Dangers of Daycare28:52 Understanding ADHD and Stress Responses30:15 The Genetic Debate on ADHD32:09 Sensitive Children and Environmental Impact34:38 Daycare: The Controversial Effects37:32 Alternatives to Daycare40:45 Community Solutions for Childcare51:30 The Role of Parents in Same-Sex Partnerships…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/id1752486249### Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )[Brain.FM](http://brain.fm/): Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulder)[Consensus.AI](http://consensus.ai/): AI Powered Research (Use Code THEGIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub)

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2 months ago
57 minutes 1 second

The Giants Shoulder
#35 What People Who Taste Triangles Reveal About Consciousness! Dr Anina Rich

Check out Brain.FM: Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulder)

Dr. Anina Rich is a cognitive neuroscientist and one of the world’s foremost experts on synesthesia — the rare phenomenon where senses merge, allowing people to see music, taste shapes, or feel touch by sight alone.But synesthesia isn’t a neurological glitch — it’s a window into how all of our brains construct reality.

In this conversation, we explore how synesthesia reveals the brain’s hidden architecture: how we fuse the senses, how attention shapes perception, and why reality itself might just be a controlled hallucination.

Expect to learn what it’s like to taste triangles, why some people feel physical pain when watching someone else get hurt, whether psychedelics can trigger temporary synesthesia, the strange science of sound-color associations, how the brain decides what to notice (and what to ignore), what synesthesia tells us about consciousness, why your brain doesn’t just perceive the world but predicts it, and how understanding this might make us more compassionate, focused, and self-aware.This is one of the most mind-bending explorations of perception and consciousness ever recorded.

...

00:00 Introduction

01:56 Exploring Reality and Perception

03:57 Understanding Synesthesia

12:54 The Subjectivity of Experience

14:44 The Complexity of Conscious Experience

18:00 Developmental Theories of Synesthesia

22:17 Personal Experiences and Synesthetic Associations 30:30 Common Patterns in Synesthetic Experiences

30:36 Exploring Synesthesia and Its Mechanisms

31:56 Brain Connectivity and Synesthetic Experiences

33:44 Innovative Research Methods in Synesthesia

38:58 Understanding Perception Through Synesthesia

42:56 Implications of Synesthesia on Consciousness

47:42 Attention and Its Role in Perception

52:53 Synesthesia and Psychedelics

56:00 Creativity and Synesthesia

57:52 The Subjectivity of Conscious Experience

01:00:05 Future Directions in Synesthesia Research


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### Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )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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2 months ago
1 hour 4 minutes 18 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#34 Meet the Psychiatrist Redefining Mental Illness! Dr Nicholas Fabiano

Get Manta Sleep Mask. Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 - https://bit.ly/4ilzfBLGet 1 Year FREE Consensus AI. Use Code GIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub - [https://consensus.app](https://consensus.app/)Dr. Nicholas Fabiano is a psychiatrist, researcher, and rising star in the world of mental health who’s challenging the foundations of how we diagnose and treat mental illness.He believes depression isn’t just in your head — it’s in your whole body. From prescribing exercise as medicine to exploring the role of creatine in mood and cognition, Dr. Fabiano is pioneering a new, evidence-based psychiatry that breaks free from outdated diagnostic boxes and recognizes the deep connection between mental and physical health.Expect to learn why the DSM fails to capture the complexity of depression, how exercise can match or exceed the effects of antidepressants, what creatine actually does in the brain, whether it could work as a standalone treatment, how psychiatry can benefit from AI and wearable data, why gait speed might predict IQ, whether cats really increase your risk of schizophrenia, and what it means to treat a person — not a label.Plus, we dissect Dr. Fabiano’s most viral science threads, viewed by millions, and end with one big question:Could creatine save your personality?...00:02:08 The Interconnection of Mental and Physical Health00:04:59 Redefining Diagnostic Criteria in Mental Health00:08:12 Challenges in Integrating Mental and Physical Health00:11:15 The Role of AI in Diagnostics and Treatment00:14:10 The Future of Prophylactic Care and Wearable Technology00:17:08 The Importance of Exercise in Mental Health Treatment00:31:09 The Importance of Proper Exercise Prescription00:34:17 Reframing Exercise for Mental Health00:40:23 Understanding the FIT Principle for Exercise00:48:09 Creatine: A New Frontier in Mental Health00:57:46 The Case for Universal Creatine Supplementation01:00:06 Creatine and Sleep Deprivation01:02:08 Creatine's Mechanism in Cognitive Function01:04:06 Creatine and Depression: Exploring the Connection01:05:57 Dietary Creatine and Mental Health01:08:10 Forms of Creatine: What You Need to Know01:10:04 Dosage and Timing of Creatine Supplementation01:12:05 Creatine and Bipolar Disorder: A Cautionary Tale01:14:03 Creatine's Role in Schizophrenia01:18:15 Caffeine and Creatine: The Interaction01:20:05 Exercise, Creatine, and Depression01:22:04 Future Research Directions for Creatine01:23:56 Creatine for Vegetarians and Vegans01:29:47 Exploring the Efficacy of Creatine01:30:14 Neuroscientific Insights on Emotional Bonds01:32:28 Dietary Impacts on Brain Cancer Survival Rates01:36:07 The Ketogenic Diet and Mental Health Applications01:39:18 The Connection Between Pet Ownership and Mental Health01:42:22 Coffee's Role in Aging and Cognitive Function01:45:29 Daytime Napping and Brain Volume01:47:55 Dog Ownership, Physical Activity, and Dementia Risk01:49:57 Walking Speed as a Proxy for Cognitive Function...Follow Dr Fabiano on X (He Posts Awesome Content) : https://x.com/NTFabianoCreatine as a treatment for depression: A brain bioenergetics perspective - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40215588/Follow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants ShoulderSpotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249### Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )[Brain.FM](http://brain.fm/): Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulder)[Consensus.AI](http://consensus.ai/): AI Powered Research (Use Code THEGIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub)

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2 months ago
1 hour 58 minutes 35 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#33 Meet the Neuroscientist Unlocking the Hidden Language of Intelligence! Dr Chris Summerfield

Get 1 Year FREE Consensus AI: (Use Code GIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub) https://consensus.appDr. Chris Summerfield is a neuroscientist, cognitive scientist, and author of These Strange New Minds — a groundbreaking exploration of whether machines like ChatGPT are starting to think, and what that reveals about human intelligence itself.Buy His Book (These Strange New Minds): https://amzn.to/4jKowBOSummerfield has spent his career studying how the brain perceives, predicts, abstracts, and decides — and now he's using that knowledge to decode how artificial systems are learning to do the same, often without being told how.Expect to learn why your brain might just be doing autocomplete on reality, how AI systems are starting to mirror human thought through pure prediction, why large language models can form meaning without understanding, how intelligence might just be compression, why abstraction is the secret weapon of both humans and machines, how AIs trained on language are learning the structure of the world, what it means that they’re beginning to talk to each other, whether these systems could develop agency, and why the most profound insights about our own minds may come from the machines we’ve built — and no longer fully understand....01:40 The Evolution of Deep Learning04:41 Language Generation Breakthroughs07:43 Human vs AI Language Production10:49 Neuroscience and Language Models13:45 The Journey to Computational Neuroscience16:26 Neuro-AI: Bridging Two Fields19:52 Understanding Neural Networks and the Brain22:46 Neural Manifolds and Their Significance25:36 The Impact of AI on Neuroscience28:43 Future Directions in Neuro-AI32:31 Exploring Foundation Models in Behavioral Science37:49 Understanding and Misunderstanding AI Outputs42:42 The Rise of Multimodal AI Models46:36 AI Safety and Ethical Considerations59:11 Aligning AI with Human Values...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/id1752486249### Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )Brain.FM: Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulder)Consensus.AI: AI Powered Research (Use Code GIANTSSHOULDER for 1 Year Free Premium Sub)

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3 months ago
1 hour 4 minutes 47 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#32 Meet the Man with ZERO Mental Imagery! Tom Ebeyor

Tom Ebeyer is the founder of the Aphantasia Network, the world’s largest organisation dedicated to understanding the invisible differences in how people experience mental imagery — or in some cases, don’t experience it at all.

Aphantasia is the inability to visualise images in the mind’s eye — a condition that affects how we remember, dream, feel emotion, and even plan for the future. Most people who have it don’t even realise it.

Expect to learn how Tom discovered he couldn’t picture anything in his head, how aphantasia can protect people from PTSD, why some artists and scientists thrive without mental imagery, how memories and dreams are fundamentally different in people with aphantasia, why it might make you a better thinker, how it shapes creativity, attention, and emotion, what’s actually happening in the brain — and why most people have no idea what their own inner experience is really like.

...

01:55 Understanding Aphantasia: The Basics

04:59 The Spectrum of Consciousness

07:52 Mental Health and Aphantasia

10:48 Coping with Aphantasia

13:57 Memory and Aphantasia

16:55 The Creative Process

19:51 The Impact of Labels

22:53 Dreams and Inner Experience

25:43 Diversity of Conscious Experience

42:42 Exploring Inner Experiences and Prosopagnosia

45:40 Attention and Sensory Awareness

50:23 Understanding Aphantasia and Brain Activity

54:03 Current Research and Future Directions in Aphantasia

58:26 The Mission of the Aphantasia Network

01:02:15 Training and Adapting to Aphantasia

01:07:03 Navigating Life with Aphantasia

01:12:15 The Future of Aphantasia Research

01:19:30 Advice for Those Discovering Aphantasia.

..

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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/id1752486249

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3 months ago
1 hour 19 minutes 12 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
Giant Moment #6 Your Emotions Are Not What you Think! Dr Anil Seth

Check out the Full Podcast with leading consciousness researcher Dr Anil Seth here - https://youtu.be/lOSA06K0l1o


Anil Seth is a neuroscientist, author, and one of the world's leading experts in consciousness research. His TED talk Your Brain Hallucinates Your Conscious Experience has captivated over 17 million viewers, and his groundbreaking book Being You explores the incredible mystery of perception and consciousness.Buy Being You (It's Genuinely Great) - https://amzn.to/4ccATngYour brain is constantly hallucinating your reality—it's predicting, guessing, and making mistakes every moment of your life. Understanding these hallucinations can radically alter your view of what’s real, what’s illusion, and how your emotions are truly made.Expect to learn why the famous ‘dress illusion’ broke the internet, how your brain invents colors that don't objectively exist, why emotions aren't reliable signals but brain-generated best guesses, whether your kitchen exists when no one’s observing it, why AI might never experience true consciousness, how optical illusions reveal the brain’s hidden mechanisms, and much more

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3 months ago
22 minutes 47 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#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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3 months ago
1 hour 37 minutes 53 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#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/4cHQImj

Language 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

...


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3 months ago
1 hour 47 minutes 27 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#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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3 months ago
1 hour 18 minutes 14 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
#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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3 months ago
1 hour 55 minutes 37 seconds

The Giants Shoulder
A Neuroscience podcast. Each week I talk with experts on a range of topics from consciousness and neuroplasticity to evolution and everything in between. I have a particular interest in consciousness and understanding our inner subjective conscious experience. Evan has a Neuroscience degree from Trinity College Dublin and is the co-founder of 2 (failed) edtech startups. He is a professional tennis coach and Triathlete enthusiast.