David Eagleman

Renowned Neuroscientist and International Bestselling Author

Your Brain on Social Media

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THE LATEST: Watch David Eagleman on The Colbert Report, talking about his New York Times bestseller, Incognito, here. Read the major New Yorker profile on his work here.

Often called the Carl Sagan of neuroscience, David Eagleman is a scientist and bestselling author who provides a new framework for understanding our brains -- and, by extension, ourselves. His speeches and articles deal with everything from how the brain rewires itself to why art and science must learn from each other. Known for a unique and active exploration of ideas, he throws himself into experiments, literally: he once dropped himself in free fall from a 150-foot tower to see if time could be perceived in slow-motion during times of fear. Erudite, engaging, and able to connect scientific discovery to daily life, Eagleman prompts audiences to celebrate the beauty of the brain, question what we perceive as reality, and re-think what we know about human nature.

A 2011 Guggenheim Fellow, David Eagleman holds joint appointments in the Departments of Neuroscience and Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and is the founder and director of the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law. His influential neuroscience books include Incognito, Live-Wired, and Wednesday is Indigo Blue. He writes regularly for the New York Times, Wired, Discover, Slate, and New Scientist, and is a repeat guest on NPR, discussing both science and literature -- his twin passions. Eagleman's novel, SUM, was named a Best Book of The Year by Barnes and Noble and inspired U2 producer Brian Eno to write twelve new pieces of music, which he performed, with Eagleman, at the Sydney Opera House.

David Eagleman Speech Topics

Your Brain on Social Media

What do advances in neuroscience reveal about the way our brains--and our conscious and subconscious selves--engage with social media? In a breathtaking talk, David Eagleman draws on an array of freshly-minted research to show us how and why we react so powerfully, and even so addictively, to this important new technology. What is so appealing about social media that has made Tweeters, followers, and "friends" out of billions of people worldwide? Our brains, Eagleman explains, are simply hardwired to "like" many aspects of social media: the sharing, the linking, the constant presence of your friends. For companies to dominate this space, they must understand what these intrinsically satisfying engagement points are--and Eagleman is among the first to dive in and investigate. Reputation and trust, so fragile in the real world, gain a whole new importance in social media. And notions of cool trump matters of cost. Cutting through speculation, anecdotal evidence, and fuzzy marketing speak, Eagleman makes vivid and practical sense of the brave new field of social neuroscience. He shows you why our brains can't help but love social media, and how to reconfigure your efforts to make use of this stunning new knowledge.

Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain

If the conscious mind -- the part you consider you -- accounts for only a fraction of the brain's function, what is all the rest doing? This is the question that David Eagleman has spent years researching and which he answers in this up-to-the-minute talk, chock-full of verve, wit, and startling new discoveries. Our behavior, thoughts, and experiences are inseparably linked to a vast, wet, chemical-electrical network called the nervous system. The machinery is utterly alien to us, and yet, somehow, it is us. Eagleman takes us into the depths of the subconscious to answer some of our deepest mysteries. Why does the conscious mind know so little about itself? What do Ulysses and the subprime mortgage meltdown have in common? Why is it so difficult to keep a secret? Eagleman charts new terrain in neuroscience and helps us understand how our perceptions of ourselves and our world result from the hidden workings of the most wondrous thing we have ever discovered: the human brain.

The Brain Science of Getting Things Done

David Eagleman examines the contracts people make with their future selves -- "I'll eat this cake if I promise to go to the gym tomorrow" -- and pinpoints how this can be leveraged effectively when it comes to getting things done. (This talk expands upon a popular New York Times Op-Ed in which he discussed the concept of a Ulysses contract, and suggested that president Obama was setting up the nation in such a contract by committing to a deadline for withdrawal from Afghanistan.) In a fast-paced talk, Eagleman explores the powers and tyrannies of deadlines, how brains simulate the future (sometimes badly), why holding "open loops" is costly, and why the enemy of productivity is unpredictability.

Emotion, Motivation, and Reputation: What Matters to the Mind of the Consumer

What motivates people to care about a brand? Why do people show loyalty to corporations? What is the role of emotion in decision-making? Brain scientist David Eagleman marshals surprising new data from social neuroscience to show that people use the same brain circuitry to relate to brands as they do to one another. This suggests strong motivation for companies to work on reputation, loyalty and trust -- subconscious issues which powerfully navigate customer decisions, but are missed by traditional methods of market research. Traditional research fails for two reasons: (1) it usually probes the conscious mind of the customer, which is not, in the end, what drives actual purchasing decisions, and (2) it is geared to measure the immediate influence of branding changes, while investments in social reputation pay off on a slower time scale. In this talk, Dr. Eagleman translates cutting-edge neuroscience into everyday examples to illuminate customer motivations, emotions, and decision-making from new angles.

How the Internet Will Save The World: Six Easy Steps to Avert the Collapse of Civilizations

By complete accident, the Internet has put an end to the threats that caused past civilizations, like the Roman Empire or Ancient Egypt, to collapse. In this keynote, David Eagleman outlines why these societies ended -- resource depletion, political corruption, natural disasters, the spreading of diseases, not maximizing human potential -- and shows us how the Internet, quite inadvertently, helps us sidestep these issues. A version of this talk was the #1 most popular video at Fora.TV the week it aired.

The Cognitive Neuroscience of Financial Decisions

Why do people store their money in Christmas accounts that earn no interest? What do Odysseus and the sub-prime mortgage meltdown have in common? What is the cost of time, brain-wise? Do impulsive people view waiting as having a higher cost? Why do patients on Parkinson's medications become compulsive gamblers? How could President Obama have improved the delivery of his 18 month promise to withdraw from Afghanistan? What happens when two people enter economic exchanges, and what have we learned about the roles of trust and reputation? How can we take lessons from brain science to make better decisions? In this talk, Dr. Eagleman translates cutting-edge neuroscience into everyday examples to illuminate financial decision-making from new angles.

VIDEOS

BOOKS

Incognito

Why the Net Matters

SUM

Wednesday is Indigo Blue

ARTICLES

The Possibilian: The New Yorker Profiles David Eagleman

The Brain on Trial: David Eagleman on Neuroscience and the Law - The Atlantic Monthly

The Soul Seeker: A Neuroscientist's Search for the Human Essence (Texas Observer Cover Story on David Eagleman)

All Speakers > David Eagleman

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