JITOTM06: Einstein's Brain

Long after the world's most famous scientific thinker stopped using it, Einstein's brain lives on in folklore, in music, and in practical experiments designed to help us understand the relationship between the brain, and the mind.

This week's episode is an ode to the world's most famous disembodied organ, and its Canadian connection.

What made Einstein's brain special? Jay gives an overview of the experiments performed on Einstein's Brain at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario by Dr. Sandra Witelson. Jay goes on to describe an experiment proposed - but not tried- by Dr. Benjamin Libet on a living brain, seeking evidence for something he calls the Conscious Mental Field.

The Quote of the Week is from Einstein himself, offering a scientific perspective on the "religion of the future," while there are TWO songs of the week called "Einstein's Brain," by Canadian songwriters Lynn Harrison and Nathan Caswell.

It's a wild ride on this week's episode of Jay Ingram's Theatre of the Mind, Einstein's Brain.

Behind the curtain:

• Dr. Benjamin Libet's work is discussed on an intriguing site called consciousentities.com among many other places.
  
  
• Quote of the week: The Einstein quote about the religion of the future was pulled from this Buddhist informational website.
  
  
• Songs of the week: Is it just coincidence that two Canadian indie songwriters, Lynn Harrison and Nathan Caswell, wrote two different and unrelated songs called "Einstein's Brain?"
  
  
• What do you think? Your comments mean a lot to us, and they influence how we produce the show. So please drop us a line at podcast@jayingram.com
  

Thanks for listening!

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