Are the Androids Dreaming Yet? Amazing Brain. Human Communication, Creativity and Free Will Quotes

“The three years it takes to acquire ‘the knowledge’ and the subsequent years of navigating London’s complex streets give cabbies a 30% larger hippocampus than the average London resident.”
― James Tagg, Are the Androids Dreaming Yet?: Amazing Brain. Human Communication, Creativity & Free Will

“There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”
― James Tagg, Are the Androids Dreaming Yet?: Amazing Brain. Human Communication, Creativity & Free Will

“This proposal would mean our Universe is entirely deterministic, our lives the result of a gigantic computer program that we live within and form part of.”
― James Tagg, Are the Androids Dreaming Yet?: Amazing Brain. Human Communication, Creativity & Free Will

“This is the outer surface of the brain where much of our thinking is done. Unfolded, this surface layer would cover the area of a football field”
― James Tagg, Are the Androids Dreaming Yet?: Amazing Brain. Human Communication, Creativity & Free Will

“In life, telling a joke will make another person smile. This causes people to be happy and happy people release chemicals into their bloodstream which make them healthier. Happy people then tell jokes to others. This circular process improves the well-being of communities and helps bond people together.”
― James Tagg, Are the Androids Dreaming Yet?: Amazing Brain. Human Communication, Creativity & Free Will

“Another interesting fact is people become more intelligent as they age, gaining about one IQ point every ten years. Against the stereotype, it’s not all downhill after forty. There is hope for me”
― James Tagg, Are the Androids Dreaming Yet?: Amazing Brain. Human Communication, Creativity & Free Will

“I came home from work one day and felt compelled to write a book about free will.”
― James Tagg, Are the Androids Dreaming Yet? Amazing Brain. Human Communication, Creativity and Free Will

“Smiles When we smile naturally we use a full set of facial muscles, including the muscles around our eyes. When the smile is forced those eye muscles remain passive and the smile, although superficially the same, is missing something. You can’t put your finger on it, but the look is insincere. A study of marriages in the USA analyzed smiles in wedding photographs. The couples with false smiles divorced much earlier than the genuinely happy couples. Similarly for high school photos; people with genuine smiles at 18 years of age were happier later in life and in more stable relationships. Smiling is really important. It is good to be around people who smile, they are more successful – and nicer. There is also a curious reverse effect. The link between our minds and bodies is much more fundamental than we thought. If you grasp a pencil between your teeth, it forces you to smile. Try it. The mere act of smiling is found to make you happier, it causes the release of the chemicals called endorphins which improve your feeling of well-being.”
― James Tagg, Are the Androids Dreaming Yet?: Amazing Brain. Human Communication, Creativity & Free Will