
MEMORY Maxed Out - with Nikolay Kukushkin!
What the if your brain literally ran out of stora…
What The If? · Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia
September 26, 202559m 28s
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Show Notes
What the if your brain literally ran out of storage space like a laptop refusing to save one more file? Neuroscientist Nikolay Kukushkin explains how memory isn't a filing cabinet but more like water carving rivers down a mountain - and when you carve too many paths, everything becomes a muddy mess. Discover why Mr. S, who remembered everything perfectly, couldn't recognize faces or taste food because his brain was too full of details. Learn why sleep is your brain's nightly cleanup crew and why we're all currently running at 98% memory capacity thanks to information overload. Plus, find out why forgetting your ex might also wipe out your algebra skills, and how even your kidney cells form their own minute-by-minute memories.
Our guest is Nikolay Kukushkin, neuroscientist at NYU and author of "One Hand Clapping: Unraveling the Mystery of the Human Mind." You can learn more about Nikolay's fascinating book at https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/One-Hand-Clapping/Nikolay-Kukushkin/9781493090648
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Topics
scienceuniversesciencefictionimaginationlearningexploringearthspaceplanetsgalaxyastronomyphysicsengineeringsocialsciencepredictionsfuturefuturismprognosticationeinsteinnewtongalileohistoryofsciencehistory