Can you trust your own brain? A neuroscientist explains | Heather Berlin

Nothing is real and everything is an illusion. Neuroscientist Heather Berlin explains why that’s not exactly a bad thing. Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► Up next, What’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told yourself? Neal Brennan shares his. ► Neuroscientist Heather Berlin likens each person’s perception to a unique box shaped by their own experiences. Perception, Berlin explains, arises from a blend of internal expectations and external sensory input, creating a subjective experience. Berlin believes our mental state can also profoundly affect our perception; a pessimistic mindset might skew it negatively, for example. The brain filters information, relying on preexisting schemas that can lead to cognitive biases. She notes that these biases can be altered through changing inputs over time, which can expand our empathy. Understanding perception’s illusor