Episode · Lex Fridman Podcast · 2020-08-26
Books mentioned on #119 – David Eagleman: Neuroplasticity and the Livewired Brain
David Eagleman is a neuroscientist at Stanford. Support this podcast by supporting our sponsors: – Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.
Lex Fridman recommended The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer and Sum by David Eagleman, and discussed Livewired by David Eagleman. David Eagleman recommended Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino and Cosmos by Carl Sagan, and discussed The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, and The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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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“can you give a high level overview of the book it's called live wired by the way”
Where to get it
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The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L.
Recommended“i'm currently reading a book i recommend for people which is uh uh as a jew it's been difficult to read but uh the horizon follows the third reich”
Where to get it
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The Denial of Death
The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning psychological and philosophical study exploring how human behavior is driven by the fear of mortality.
Discussed“you know i i don't know if you're familiar with a philosopher named ernest becker he wrote a book called denial of death”
Where to get it
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Invisible Cities
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino is a fantastical novel structured as a dialogue between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan, describing numerous imagined and magical cities across the Khan's empire.
Recommended“I would actually recommend invisible cities I just i loved that book by italo calvino”
Where to get it
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All the Light We Cannot See
Anthony Doerr's acclaimed historical novel "All the Light We Cannot See" weaves together the lives of a blind French girl and a German boy during World War II.
Discussed“uh anthony door wrote a book called all the light we cannot see which actually uh was inspired by incognito by exactly what we were talking about earlier about how you can only see a little bit of the what we call visible light in the electromagnetic radiation”
Where to get it
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The Sun Also Rises
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway is a classic Lost Generation novel chronicling the disillusionment, travels, and romantic entanglements of a group of American and British expatriates in Europe.
Discussed“um snows of kilimanjaro uh oh wow short stories that i love”
Where to get it
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Cosmos
Cosmos by Carl Sagan is a popular science book that explores the universe, astronomy, and the interconnectedness of all life and matter through scientific inquiry.
Recommended“i grew up uh with cosmos both watching the pbs series and then reading the book and that influenced me a huge amount in terms of what i do”
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“and now let me leave you with some words from david eagleman in his book some for details from the afterlife”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (6) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“he is an author a lot of amazing books about the human mind and his new one called livewired”
“i recommend ascent of money as a great book on this history”
“then it simplifies it and we come to understand something that that was my goal in livewire which i've written over 10 years by the way is to try to distill things down to the principles of what plastic systems are trying to accomplish”
“changing livewire the name of the book is is like so i'll tell you exactly right but i'll tell you why i chose livewire instead of plasticity”
“i gave this the end of my book incognito”
“i gave this the end of my book incognito so the whole book of incognito is about you know all the what's happening in the brain”