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Unpacking the Brain’s Role in Inventing Your Perception

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Manage episode 505842200 series 3481475
Content provided by Scientific American. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Scientific American or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Human brains don’t just perceive reality—they invent it. In this episode of Science Quickly, cognitive neuroscientist Daniel Yon speaks with host Rachel Feltman about how perception is an active process of prediction in which the brain constructs theories about the world that can sometimes lead us astray. Drawing from his book A Trick of the Mind, he reveals why this “hallucination” of reality is not a flaw but a fundamental feature of how we navigate the world.

Recommended Reading

A Trick of the Mind. Daniel Yon. Grand Central Publishing, 2025

The Neuroscience of Reality

E-mail us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!

Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check the show. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  continue reading

1829 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 505842200 series 3481475
Content provided by Scientific American. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Scientific American or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Human brains don’t just perceive reality—they invent it. In this episode of Science Quickly, cognitive neuroscientist Daniel Yon speaks with host Rachel Feltman about how perception is an active process of prediction in which the brain constructs theories about the world that can sometimes lead us astray. Drawing from his book A Trick of the Mind, he reveals why this “hallucination” of reality is not a flaw but a fundamental feature of how we navigate the world.

Recommended Reading

A Trick of the Mind. Daniel Yon. Grand Central Publishing, 2025

The Neuroscience of Reality

E-mail us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!

Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check the show. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  continue reading

1829 episodes

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