Episode · The Tim Ferriss Show · 2023-05-26
Books mentioned on #674: Neuroscientist David Eagleman — Exploring Consciousness, Sensory Augmentation, The Lazy Susan Method of Extraordinary Productivity, Dreaming, Improving Hearing with a Wristband, Synesthesia, Stretching Time with Novelty, Lessons from Titans of Science, and Much More
Brought to you by Vuori comfortable and durable performance apparel, Athletic Greens’s AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement, and AeroPress 3-in-1 coffee press for delicious brews. David Eagleman (@davideagleman) is a neuroscientist, New York Times bestselling author, TED speaker, and Guggenheim Fellow.
Tim Ferriss recommended Sum by David Eagleman and The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino, and discussed The Mind of a Mnemonist by A. R. Luria and Livewired by David Eagleman. David Eagleman recommended Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, Beloved by Toni Morrison, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges, and The Bear by William Faulkner.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Mind of a Mnemonist
The Mind of a Mnemonist by A.
Discussed“one book that I found somehow, I don't know how, in high school, which later led to me for a very brief stint being a neuroscience major or a psychology major with a focus on neuroscience, was a book by A.R. Luria. And I may screw up another word here, but The Mind of a — David Eagleman: Mnemonist.”
Where to get it
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Sum
Sum by David Eagleman is a short, thought-provoking work of speculative fiction comprising forty imaginative tales from various afterlives.
Recommended“Well, one thing that comes to mind is I wanted to be a writer very much, and so I wrote my first book called Sum. Tim Ferriss: Great book, by the way, highly recommend.”
Where to get it
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Invisible Cities
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino is a fantastical work of magical realism featuring imaginative descriptions of fictional cities recounted by Marco Polo to Kublai Khan.
Recommended“Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities is an extraordinary book about Marco Polo talking to the Great Khan, Kublai Khan, about different cities in the Khan's Empire, and it's magical realism.”
Where to get it
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Beloved
Beloved by Toni Morrison is a powerful historical fiction novel that tells the harrowing story of Sethe, an escaped enslaved woman haunted by the trauma of her past and the literal ghost of her daughter.
Recommended“A Hundred Years of Solitude, if someone hasn't read that, Borges' Labyrinths, Toni Morrison's Beloved, essentially anything by Faulkner, The Bear is a great one.”
Where to get it
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One Hundred Years of Solitude
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez is a landmark novel that chronicles the multi-generational history of the Buendía family in the fictional town of Macondo and stands as a masterwork of magical realism.
Recommended“A Hundred Years of Solitude, if someone hasn't read that, Borges' Labyrinths, Toni Morrison's Beloved, essentially anything by Faulkner, The Bear is a great one.”
Where to get it
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Labyrinths
Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges is a celebrated collection of fantastical and philosophical short stories that explore infinity, identity, labyrinths, and the nature of reality.
Recommended“A Hundred Years of Solitude, if someone hasn't read that, Borges' Labyrinths, Toni Morrison's Beloved, essentially anything by Faulkner, The Bear is a great one.”
Where to get it
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The Bear
The Bear is a celebrated short novel by William Faulkner that explores themes of wilderness, heritage, and the complicated relationship between humanity and the natural world in the American South.
Recommended“A Hundred Years of Solitude, if someone hasn't read that, Borges' Labyrinths, Toni Morrison's Beloved, essentially anything by Faulkner, The Bear is a great one.”
Where to get it
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The Baron in the Trees
The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino is a whimsical, philosophical fable about an Italian nobleman in the eighteenth century who climbs into the trees during a family dispute and vows never to touch the ground again.
Recommended“I'll add one more to the list for people who are looking for something very strange and it's also very short, but I think it's The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino, which is about basically a young boy who gets in a fight with his father, comes from this esteemed family, escapes into the tree in his yard,”
Where to get it
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Livewired
Livewired by David Eagleman is a popular science book that explores the concept of neuroplasticity, detailing how the human brain constantly rewires itself and adapts to experiences throughout life.
Discussed“And this question was cued for me, in a way, by Annaka Harris, who's an incredible writer, who's written a lot on consciousness. The topic we covered at the very beginning of this conversation on some level, infotropism. Am I getting this term right? David Eagleman: Yeah. Tim Ferriss: Could you walk us through the premise of Livewired, the reason”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (6) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“And in his spare time, he is the author of eight books, including the international bestsellers Sum, Incognito —”
“And in his spare time, he is the author of eight books, including the international bestsellers Sum, Incognito —”
“I learn. I learn — and his newest book, Livewired.”
“Ed Cooke, and I don't know if you know this name, but he trained the author behind a book called Moonwalking with Einstein to win the National Memory Championships in the United States.”
“This, by the way, is why I wrote my book Incognito some years ago, which is about everything that's running under the hood that we don't have access to.”
“And in my last book, Livewired, I talk about how memory actually has to get moved around in the brain and moved into different states,”