Debbie Foster

These observations refute the myth that consciousness simply arises from neurons doing their thing. Here are billions of cerebellar cells doing what comes naturally to them, firing action potentials and releasing little squirts of neurotransmitter, yet without any feelings. What matters is not the constitution of brain tissue but the way it is

I didn't know if it was my mind, the writing, or what, but I had trouble following the sentences. They moved strangely, like they were bent somewhere inside, the assertions like staircases that I followed into walls.

The word ‘routine’ derives from ‘route’, itself deriving from ‘rupta via’, meaning a road forged by force, a forced and beaten path.

Our language-based theories of how our minds work don't often succeed in explaining how our minds actually work, for so many layers of the mind's operations occur prior to the stories and explanations we offer with language. Neuroscience is helpful in capturing more subconscious processes.

I have a stronger memory of visiting Bekonscot Model Village, "the world's oldest and original model village" … We encountered the village as the scholar Yael Padan argues tourists often do, as a representation of the nation in which—like an orrery—time and space are condensed. Bekonscot was first opened to the public in 1929, and while some of the

"You are long-lived!" exclaimed Durga.

"Our health is matched to the duration of our interests," said Agassiz. "Isn't that how it should be?"

He felt like the face on the back of a coin being tossed in the air. It could go either way, but the whole thing had a bitter taste of destiny to it, as if the coin had already landed and everybody else knew the result.

In some cultures, the mind is a private space, while in others, it is open to outside influences--loved ones, elders, and the divine--in important ways that shape how inner voices are received or even heard.

Confronted with these realities, a philosopher or anthropologist might be tempted to think that the Aztecs lacked a domain for thinking about what we call "ontology" or "metaphysics." That is untrue. They did think deeply about the fundamental character of reality. They merely did so without the use of terms such as "being" or "is." Instead, they