"I
am not who I think I am," declares Jason Silva, the host of National
Geographic's show, Brain Games. "I am not who you think I am. I am who I think
you think I am. Because when we communicate, I make a model of your brain in my
brain. And then I make a model of how your brain is modeling my brain, in my
brain. And then I respond according to who you think you think I
am."
Silva ends his supercharged sermon on human consciousness with a
chuckle. But is he laughing at the serpentine logic of his own ideas? Or is he
enjoying the ease with which he articulates a stream of symmetrical sentences,
each of which seems designed to tangle the brain as well as the tongue?
It's hard to say with Silva. In conversation, it can be hard just to
keep pace with the self-proclaimed "wonder junkie". At his best, the beauty of
his words are a poetic match for the grandeur of his ideas.
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