“The secret of happiness is: Find something more important than you are and dedicate your life to it.” This was said by Daniel Dennett, a world-renowned American Philosopher who sadly passed away on 19 April. He certainly followed his own word and left a legacy of his work on consciousness, free will, ethics and artificial intelligence. Let’s explore some of his ideas!
As I was walking through the streets of Manhattan, I experienced what I call the “Times Square effect”: too many things to sense at once. It put me in this contemplation state where I am both fascinated and overwhelmed by my surroundings.
On March 14, the world-famous primatologist Frans de Waal passed away. His primate research not only expanded our knowledge of chimpanzees and bonobos, but also revealed fascinating insights about the most peculiar of apes: humans. Here, we show three lessons we learned from Frans de Waal.
Robert Frost beautifully sets the context through his poem for this article, “Two roads diverged
Foraging unveils the primal essence of decision-making in natural brains. How can we leverage it to understand brains and design predictable AI?
For social creatures such as humans, communication is key. However, certain conditions can make verbal communication difficult. Recent studies have been able to use Brain-Computer Interfaces to translate brain signals to speech so they can help speech-impaired patients communicate without needing to speak.
A bored man was working at developing energy sources for radar systems. He failed and wanted to have a coffee break. Suddenly, he realized that the chocolate bar in his pocket had melted during his experiments: he had just discovered the microwave. Many breakthroughs happened by accident – or should I say: boredom. Research studies revealed that getting bored engages the same brain areas as creative thinking.
How do our brains store and retrieve memories and what do emotions have to do with that?
It’s no secret that people generally prefer tasks that are easy and require minimum effort over those that are more challenging. A recent study shows that you can overcome this laziness when there’s a chance for learning.
Social comparison, or the tendency to compare oneself with another, is an individual behavior largely embedded in cultural and political background. Research has converged on the idea that the brain’s reward-related system is involved. Why is that?