Matt and I discuss how cognition and behavior drifts over the course of minutes and hours, and how global brain activity drifts with it. How does the brain continue to produce steady perception and action in the midst of such drift? We also talk about how to think about variability in neural activity. How much of it is noise and how much of it is hidden important activity? Finally, we discuss the effect of recording more and more neurons simultaneously, collecting bigger and bigger datasets, plus guest questions from Adam Snyder and Patrick Mayo.

• Smith Lab.
• Twitter: @SmithLabNeuro.
• Related:
  • Slow drift of neural activity as a signature of impulsivity in macaque visual and prefrontal cortex.
• Artwork by Melissa Neely

Take home points:

• The “noise” in the variability of neural activity is likely just activity devoted to processing other things.
• Recording lots of neurons simultaneously helps resolve the question of what’s noise and how much information is in a population of neurons.
• There’s a neural signature of the behavioral “slow drift” of our internal cognitive state.
• The neural signature is global, and it’s an open question how the brain compensates to produce steady perception and action.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

We all know this story, in part because it captures a period that will always have a special place in the American imagination. Prosperous and boozy, the Jazz Age seemed like one great party, held to celebrate the end of a terrible world war; the liberating promise of newly ubiquitous technologies, including electricity, the telephone, and the automobile; and a certain image of success as carefree, inexhaustibly gratifying, and available to all who try. And yet perhaps this fantasy is rooted in disillusionment, and a denial of inescapable social realities, including the impossibility of genuine social mobility. What do we mean when we talk about the American Dream? Is it realistic? Wes & Erin discuss F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.”

Subscribe: (sub)Text won’t always be in the PEL feed, so please subscribe to us directly: Apple | Spotify | Android | RSS

Bonus content: The conversation continues on our after-show (post)script. Get this and other bonus content at by subscribing at Patreon.

Follow (sub)Text: Twitter | Facebook | Website

Thanks to Tyler Hislop for the audio editing on this episode.

Yaron Brook is a objectivist philosopher, podcaster, and author. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:

EPISODE LINKS:

PODCAST INFO:

SUPPORT & CONNECT:

OUTLINE:

Last January, before the coronavirus pandemic struck, Intelligence Squared staged a sold-out debate on whether we need a truly radical new economic system to deal with the looming climate catastrophe. While Covid-19 has dominated the headlines for most of the ensuing months, averting ecological disaster remains the single most important issue we face. We therefore restaged the debate online to give all who were unable to attend the in-person event a chance to hear the arguments, ask questions live and cast their vote.  

—

We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be. 

Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to [email protected] or Tweet us @intelligence2. 

And if you’d like to support our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations, as well as ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content, early access and much more, become a supporter of Intelligence Squared today.

Just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the thirteenth special episode of Dissecting Philosophy with Dr McDonald, he discusses Plato's dialogue the Phaedo.

Feel free to send questions or comments to [email protected]

New episodes every Monday.

Social media:
Twitter: @iamarubberman
Instagram: dissectingphilosophywithdrmcd
Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTi_1EbyC_8kbkU8-wFdjog

Support the podcast:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Dissectingphilosophy
Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/dissectingphilosophy

Many thanks to my Patreon supporter Pinkgummy

Credits: 
Podcast Intro and Outro Music - Arctic and Fir from the album Delicate Felt Piano by Chad Crouch that can be downloaded at https://soundofpicture.bandcamp.com/album/delicate-felt-piano

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Dissectingphilosophy)

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes

Is the purpose of life personal development or changing society for the better? And what is the future of political engagement? On this week’s episode we’re discussing the relationship between our personal beliefs and civic engagement.

We’re joined remotely by anarcho-primitist John Zerzan, author and Buddhist nun Emma Slade, radical left-wing journalist Aaron Bastani and former liberal democrat leader Vince Cable.

This episode is in association with Say Your Peace. Say Your Peace aims to spark global change through self-transformation and community dialogue. Find out more at sayyourpeace.org, and check them out on Instagram and Facebook.

There are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – videos, articles, and courses waiting for you to explore. Find out more: https://iai.tv/podcast-offers?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=shownotes&utm_campaign=do-we-really-want-to-save-the-world

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Determination, hard work and sacrifice are core ingredients in the story of the American dream. But philosopher Jennifer Morton argues there is another, more painful requirement to getting ahead: a willingness to leave family and friends behind. This week, we explore the ethical costs of upward mobility.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.