Who Is in Control?

In this experiment men were asked to look at photographs of women’s faces and make judgments about them. They had no conscious awareness of what was influencing their answers.

Why are there differences between us? Why is it that we behave differently when faced with the same choices? A confluence of our genes and the environment we are born into send each of us off on very different life trajectories.

Ian Waterman has lost the ability to control his body without exerting extraordinary conscious effort. Ian’s condition reminds us of the amazing reach of the unconscious brain.

Austin Naber is a world-record holder in cup stacking. He practices 3-4 hours every day. How will David fare against him? EEG helmets capture the differences in their brain activity, and reveal a deeper truth about why so much of what the brain does is unconscious.

David describes some situations where the unconscious brain is making decisions on our behalf. So why are we conscious? David enlists the help of a man dressed as a bee to point out one of its important roles.

What if we have no free will? What if we are just systems that move from one state to another in a predictable fashion? Using a tank of ping pong balls, David demonstrates why we don’t need to worry.

Explore the great deception that greets us each morning when we awake: it feels as though we are in conscious control of our lives but the truth is that we are not.