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TYSON: Can we
know the universe?
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Are our brains capable of
comprehending the cosmos in
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00:00:12,273 --> 00:00:14,753
all of its complexity
and splendor?
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00:00:15,798 --> 00:00:18,366
We don't yet know the answer
to that question because our
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00:00:18,540 --> 00:00:20,933
brain remains
almost as much of a mystery
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00:00:21,108 --> 00:00:23,197
as the universe itself.
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00:00:24,415 --> 00:00:27,070
We think that the number of
processing units in your brain
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is roughly equal to all the
stars in 1,000 galaxies.
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At least 100 trillion.
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And it's possible that the
real number of processing units
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is ten times larger.
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We're inside a brain.
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It's in the grip of a Category
5 hurricane of chemical and
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electrical forces.
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The storm came
without warning,
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spreading chaos and heartache
far beyond its path...
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But it also provided the first
clues to the nature of this
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little cosmos.
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[theme music plays]
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♪ ♪
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♪ ♪
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TYSON: We are traveling 2,500
years back in time to the island
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of Kos in the Aegean Sea.
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This is the story
of a giant leap in the
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history of thought.
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It was here that one of
the most powerful spells
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ever to cloud the
mind was first broken.
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Imagine you are
the loving parents of a
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precious only child.
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The boy is given to
moments of brilliance,
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which charm and
impress your friends.
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But there's something wrong...
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A storm is brewing
inside his head...
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GOVERNESS: Peleus! Peleus!
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♪ ♪
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TYSON: This was medicine
2,500 years ago in Greece.
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The idea that the ritual
appeasement of one of the gods
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could bring about the cure
for an epileptic seizure was
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magical thinking.
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When the Greeks and
people of other cultures
performed their rituals,
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some of the afflicted recovered,
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due to the finite
course of the illness,
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or to their own
immune systems.
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But to the patients
and their loved ones,
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it meant that the gods
had been appeased.
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And when the patient died?
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That just meant the
gods were so angry,
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nothing could be done.
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This way of thinking was
a by-product of that great
human strength, and weakness,
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called pattern recognition.
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In this case, false
pattern recognition.
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The belief that epilepsy was
caused by the anger of the
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gods was the confusion of
correlation with causation,
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and the wishful
thinking that prevails when
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people feel powerless.
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That's not to say that the
ancient Greeks didn't have
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remedies, plants and minerals,
they used as medicines.
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But for a disease as
mysterious as epilepsy,
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they could only light
their incense and pray.
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They didn't even know it had
anything to do with the brain.
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And then came Hippocrates.
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Hippocrates rejected the
notion that angry gods were
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the cause of
disease and injury.
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He wrote: "The
physician must
investigate the entire patient,
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his diet and his environment...
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The best physician
is the one who is able
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to prevent illness.
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Nothing happens
without a natural cause."
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For this alone,
he could be called
the Father of Medicine.
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He is credited with codifying
an ethos for doctors.
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The oath ascribed to him in
the 3rd century BCE is still
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taken today by those who
would practice medicine.
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And it was Hippocrates
who was among the first
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to declare the brain to
be the seat of consciousness.
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It's hard to believe,
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but this was once
a revolutionary concept.
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The prevailing wisdom
being that we actually
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thought with our hearts.
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And it may have been
here where he made one of
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the great prophecies
in the history of science.
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Hippocrates understood that
he and his contemporaries
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called epilepsy
"“the sacred disease"”
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because they didn't
understand its physical cause.
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He wrote,
"When we do, we will no
longer think it divine."
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That little boy wasn't cursed.
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There was a physical
malfunction inside his brain.
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As long as we searched for
it in the whim of the gods,
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we had no hope of helping
him, or ourselves.
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Yet thousands of years passed,
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and the brain
remained a mystery.
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Between 420 BCE and
the 19th century,
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our understanding
of the cosmos grew
by leaps and bounds.
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We discovered
the speed of light,
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00:06:29,998 --> 00:06:31,695
the laws of gravity,
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and we learned that our Sun
is part of a greater galaxy
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of stars and yet, 2,300
years after Hippocrates,
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we still knew virtually
nothing about the part of
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ourselves that
made it possible to
make these discoveries:
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our brains.
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It could be said that
we actually knew less.
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The study of the brain
had become stuck in a
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pseudoscientific dead-end
called "“phrenology,"”
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which held that from the
shape of a person's skull,
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you could deduce
their intelligence and
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trustworthiness.
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A frenzy of
head-measuring ensued.
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A gift for languages
resided above the cheekbone,
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and marital fidelity
located behind the ears.
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And not surprisingly,
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European phrenologists
discovered that their
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particular heads
represented the universal
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standard of
cerebral excellence.
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The first real insight
regarding the connection
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between the mind
and the brain was made
in France in 1861.
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And here again, epilepsy
played a critical role...
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The Bicêtre psychiatric
hospital was state-of-the-art
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in Paris back then.
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In the previous century,
it had been the first to
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introduce humane practices in
the treatment of the insane
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and the mentally disabled.
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And among the doctors there,
surgeon Paul Broca was
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especially admired for
his enlightened treatment
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of his patients.
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TAN: Tan...
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TYSON: The patient's
name was Louis Leborgne.
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TAN: Tan...
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TYSON: But everyone
called him "Tan" after the
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only syllable that he had
uttered since he was 30.
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He was now 51.
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Tan had been having epileptic
seizures since childhood,
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but he was committed to
Bicêtre because he had lost
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all powers of speech except
for being able to say "“tan."”
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Now, poor Tan lay dying.
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His right side had
become paralyzed,
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and gangrene had set in.
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Prior to
Tan's medical crisis,
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Broca had been speculating
that specific regions
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of the brain might
be responsible for
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the powers of
speech and memory.
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00:09:02,977 --> 00:09:05,327
Broca wanted to know
everything he possibly could
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about the dying patient
in expectation of what a
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00:09:07,938 --> 00:09:09,679
post-mortem might reveal.
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We do not know
if Tan's epilepsy caused
the damage to his brain,
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or whether an unreported
childhood injury
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caused his epilepsy and
later loss of speech.
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TAN: Tan...
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TYSON: But because
of Tan's fate,
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Paul Broca was
able to connect,
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for the very first time,
a part of the human brain,
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in this case the region
that was damaged,
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and its specialized function:
the ability to use language.
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His reward...
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that part of our brain
has been known ever since
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as "Broca's area."
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Paul Broca's own
brain ended up in a jar
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like this one in a
back storage room of the
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anthropological
museum he directed,
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with shelf upon shelf of the
brains of mass murderers and
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other master criminals,
as well as congenital
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abnormalities that seemed to
fascinate the public of the
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19th century.
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Broca was a humanist.
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He concluded that there were
deep connections in brain
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physiology between
non-human primates and us.
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He founded a society of
freethinkers in his youth,
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and believed passionately
in the importance
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of unobstructed inquiry.
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He lived his life in
pursuit of that aim.
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But he, too, was partly
blinded by the prejudices that
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permeated his society.
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He thought men mentally
superior to women,
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and whites superior
to everyone else.
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His falling short of humanist
ideals shows that even someone
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as committed to the
free pursuit of knowledge
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as Broca could still be
deceived by endemic bigotry.
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Society corrupts
the best of us.
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It's a little unfair,
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I think, to criticize
a person for not sharing
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the enlightenment
of a later age,
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00:11:25,989 --> 00:11:30,080
but it is also profoundly
saddening that such prejudices
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were so pervasive.
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The question raises nagging
uncertainties about which of
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the assumptions of our
own age will be considered
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unforgivable by the next...
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Broca established for the
first time that there were
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physical correlations
between anatomy and function,
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but what of the crackling
energy of consciousness?
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What of the stuff that
dreams are made of?
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Can't put them in a jar...
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♪ ♪
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TYSON: When the ancient
Egyptians looked up at night,
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00:12:30,097 --> 00:12:31,881
they saw
the underbody of Nut,
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00:12:32,795 --> 00:12:34,579
Goddess of the Milky Way.
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00:12:34,971 --> 00:12:37,104
When they closed their
eyes and began to dream,
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00:12:37,669 --> 00:12:40,020
they believed they were
transiting to the afterlife.
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00:12:40,629 --> 00:12:43,327
And so, dreaming was
ritualized into a form of
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worship, a means to learn
what their future held,
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00:12:47,375 --> 00:12:50,508
or to send a message to the
gods, as they slumbered.
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The faithful would
make a pilgrimage to
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a temple to dream.
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00:13:02,129 --> 00:13:04,044
To prepare themselves,
they would withdraw to a
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place of isolation,
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00:13:06,176 --> 00:13:09,223
and fast to cleanse
their mind and body.
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00:13:15,185 --> 00:13:18,667
A prayer might be written
to a particular god...
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00:13:19,189 --> 00:13:23,150
and burned.
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00:13:29,199 --> 00:13:31,723
It was hoped that its smoke
would convey the contents to
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the underworld.
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00:13:40,558 --> 00:13:43,910
If we could only materialize
and decipher the dreaming that
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went on at the Temple
of Dendera so long ago.
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And what of your
dream just last night?
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The ancient Egyptians were
mystified by the boundary that
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separates our waking
and sleeping life.
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They believed that we were
actually transported to
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00:14:00,578 --> 00:14:03,494
another physical realm,
and that dreams had
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00:14:03,668 --> 00:14:05,670
a material reality.
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00:14:06,062 --> 00:14:08,195
How else to explain the
stunning detail of a
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00:14:08,369 --> 00:14:10,501
particularly vivid dream?
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00:14:11,502 --> 00:14:14,462
More than 1,000 years after
the last dreamers awakened at
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00:14:14,636 --> 00:14:18,379
Dendera, there was a scientist
who believed that conscious
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00:14:18,553 --> 00:14:21,556
and unconscious thoughts
do have a material reality,
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00:14:22,078 --> 00:14:24,341
that dreams were
actually physical phenomena
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00:14:24,515 --> 00:14:27,344
that could be recorded.
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00:14:29,390 --> 00:14:32,175
And he found a way to do it.
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In a place of broken minds
and shattered dreams...
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00:14:45,841 --> 00:14:48,670
This is the
Manicomio di Collegno,
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00:14:48,844 --> 00:14:50,759
in Turin, Italy.
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00:14:51,107 --> 00:14:53,936
Built as a monastery
in the 17th century,
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00:14:54,284 --> 00:14:57,244
it had become a psychiatric
hospital by 1850.
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00:14:57,418 --> 00:15:01,552
It was abandoned decades ago,
but it still reverberates with
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00:15:01,726 --> 00:15:04,686
centuries of human
suffering and loneliness.
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00:15:06,383 --> 00:15:09,038
It was here that
Angelo Mosso came to perform
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00:15:09,212 --> 00:15:11,475
experiments on
dreams and thoughts.
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00:15:12,824 --> 00:15:15,218
Mosso was a child of
the working class who
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00:15:15,392 --> 00:15:17,960
boot-strapped himself
into becoming a scientist.
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00:15:18,439 --> 00:15:20,093
His primary
research had been in
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00:15:20,267 --> 00:15:22,617
pharmacology and physiology.
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00:15:22,791 --> 00:15:25,576
And it was all focused
on making life better
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00:15:25,750 --> 00:15:27,622
for the working poor.
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00:15:28,405 --> 00:15:31,887
He viewed science as a means
to improve labor conditions.
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00:15:34,020 --> 00:15:37,501
In a time when people were
literally worked to death,
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00:15:37,675 --> 00:15:40,026
without recourse or
legal protection,
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00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:43,029
Mosso designed and
built an ergograph,
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00:15:43,203 --> 00:15:45,857
or "“fatigue recorder,"” so
that he could demonstrate
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00:15:46,032 --> 00:15:48,904
experimentally what the
relentless stress of hard
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00:15:49,078 --> 00:15:51,602
labor did to the
human body and mind.
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00:15:52,734 --> 00:15:56,477
To Mosso, exhaustion
was both a physical
and emotional state,
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00:15:57,739 --> 00:16:00,350
not a sign of human
weakness or a character flaw.
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00:16:01,308 --> 00:16:03,310
And it was your body's
way of telling you to stop
249
00:16:03,484 --> 00:16:05,747
what you were doing
to avoid injury.
250
00:16:06,269 --> 00:16:10,317
Mosso reasoned that fatigue
had an evolutionary advantage,
251
00:16:10,491 --> 00:16:11,796
much like fear.
252
00:16:12,188 --> 00:16:14,712
[screams]
253
00:16:21,110 --> 00:16:23,286
[goats bleeting]
254
00:16:29,771 --> 00:16:33,253
To demonstrate this, Mosso
began thinking about designing
255
00:16:33,427 --> 00:16:36,647
an apparatus that could
record the body's blood flow.
256
00:16:59,844 --> 00:17:01,977
The table that Mosso's
assistant floated on was
257
00:17:02,151 --> 00:17:05,285
exquisitely balanced, and was
all attached to a rotating
258
00:17:05,459 --> 00:17:08,810
drum with a stylus that
recorded the blood flow.
259
00:17:24,739 --> 00:17:27,568
It was the beginning
of medical imaging,
260
00:17:28,003 --> 00:17:30,962
a tool that had
never existed before.
261
00:17:34,618 --> 00:17:36,968
But if the actions of the
heart could be recorded,
262
00:17:37,143 --> 00:17:39,275
what about the brain?
263
00:17:39,449 --> 00:17:42,583
How could you transcribe the
brain's delicate murmurings
264
00:17:42,757 --> 00:17:45,934
when they were housed
in a protective skull?
265
00:17:46,369 --> 00:17:49,372
There was no way to do that
without harming a patient...
266
00:17:49,546 --> 00:17:51,026
Or was there?
267
00:17:54,769 --> 00:17:57,163
When he was not
even two years old,
268
00:17:57,337 --> 00:17:59,948
Giovanni Thron fell
from a great height.
269
00:18:00,383 --> 00:18:03,343
His skull had been so badly
shattered it was necessary to
270
00:18:03,517 --> 00:18:06,215
remove some of the pieces.
271
00:18:06,563 --> 00:18:09,044
As a result of the blow,
he began to have frequent
272
00:18:09,218 --> 00:18:11,829
and violent epileptic seizures.
273
00:18:12,526 --> 00:18:14,571
Fearing that they
might be contagious,
274
00:18:14,745 --> 00:18:17,008
his parents abandoned
him at the mental hospital
275
00:18:17,183 --> 00:18:19,620
in Turin by the
time he was five.
276
00:18:20,360 --> 00:18:23,624
And there he languished
for six years.
277
00:18:24,625 --> 00:18:27,802
The catastrophic injury that
had ruined Giovanni's life had
278
00:18:27,976 --> 00:18:30,500
left a doorway to his brain.
279
00:18:30,848 --> 00:18:34,113
Mosso designed and built the
machine so sensitive it could
280
00:18:34,287 --> 00:18:36,985
register the blood
coursing through his brain.
281
00:18:37,290 --> 00:18:40,119
But Giovanni was so agitated
during his waking hours,
282
00:18:40,293 --> 00:18:43,078
Mosso could only study
him while he slept.
283
00:18:43,731 --> 00:18:46,342
Mosso needed Giovanni
to be perfectly still in
284
00:18:46,516 --> 00:18:48,997
order to record the faint
signature of his thoughts.
285
00:18:51,347 --> 00:18:54,742
GHOST: When I saw
Giovanni in February, 1877,
286
00:18:54,916 --> 00:18:57,701
he had a large opening in
the skull covered with skin.
287
00:18:59,181 --> 00:19:01,357
The terrible fall
had forever arrested
288
00:19:01,531 --> 00:19:03,620
his intellectual development.
289
00:19:04,186 --> 00:19:05,970
It was a saddening
circumstance,
290
00:19:06,145 --> 00:19:09,626
that in the midst of the
ruin of his mind, one single,
291
00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:14,501
higher idea had remained,
a remnant of his earlier
292
00:19:14,936 --> 00:19:18,809
intellectual life, a motto
which he constantly repeated:
293
00:19:21,334 --> 00:19:25,555
'I want to go to school.'
It was one of the most
294
00:19:25,729 --> 00:19:30,343
interesting sights to observe
in the stillness of night,
295
00:19:30,517 --> 00:19:32,780
what was going
on in his brain,
296
00:19:32,954 --> 00:19:35,086
when there was no external
cause to disturb this
297
00:19:35,261 --> 00:19:38,133
mysterious life of sleep.
298
00:19:38,307 --> 00:19:41,528
The brain-pulse remained for
10 or 20 minutes quite regular
299
00:19:41,702 --> 00:19:43,312
and very weak...
300
00:19:43,486 --> 00:19:47,621
and then began suddenly,
without any apparent cause to
301
00:19:47,795 --> 00:19:51,102
swell and beat
more vigorously.
302
00:19:52,278 --> 00:19:54,410
The dreams, perhaps,
303
00:19:54,584 --> 00:19:57,544
come to cheer the repose
of the unhappy boy?
304
00:19:57,979 --> 00:20:00,590
That the face of his mother
and the recollections of his
305
00:20:00,764 --> 00:20:04,072
early childhood glow
bright in his memory?
306
00:20:04,812 --> 00:20:07,162
Lighting up the darkness
of his intelligence,
307
00:20:07,336 --> 00:20:10,861
and make his brain
pulsate with excitement?
308
00:20:11,035 --> 00:20:13,777
Or was it an unconscious
agitation of matter,
309
00:20:13,951 --> 00:20:18,782
like the ebb and flow of an
unknown and solitary sea?
310
00:20:30,794 --> 00:20:34,624
TYSON: On that snowy night,
Angelo Mosso gave the brain
311
00:20:34,798 --> 00:20:37,932
its first pen to write with.
312
00:20:38,193 --> 00:20:40,195
He had invented neuroimaging,
313
00:20:40,369 --> 00:20:42,023
and showed
that even in sleep,
314
00:20:42,197 --> 00:20:44,634
the brain is
pulsing, throbbing,
315
00:20:44,808 --> 00:20:47,637
flashing with the complex
business of life...
316
00:20:48,029 --> 00:20:51,598
dreaming, remembering,
figuring things out.
317
00:20:52,990 --> 00:20:55,906
Our thoughts, visions,
fantasies and our dreams,
318
00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:58,779
do have a material reality.
319
00:21:00,128 --> 00:21:02,652
Three months after
the night of dreams,
320
00:21:02,826 --> 00:21:06,439
Giovanni died of anemia.
321
00:21:08,092 --> 00:21:10,921
He was not yet 12.
322
00:21:21,323 --> 00:21:23,717
Angelo Mosso's breakthrough
in pioneering the field of
323
00:21:23,891 --> 00:21:26,981
neuroscience inspired
another man to take Mosso's
324
00:21:27,155 --> 00:21:29,723
work one giant step further.
325
00:21:30,637 --> 00:21:34,336
He wanted to demonstrate
that psychic powers are real.
326
00:21:35,250 --> 00:21:38,384
It all happened because
of a freak accident...
327
00:21:40,255 --> 00:21:42,910
[gunshots]
328
00:21:43,693 --> 00:21:47,175
Hans Berger dreamed of
becoming an astronomer,
329
00:21:47,349 --> 00:21:50,526
but it was too hard,
and so in 1892,
330
00:21:51,310 --> 00:21:53,573
he enlisted in
the German army.
331
00:22:07,630 --> 00:22:10,416
Berger was shaken by
his brush with death,
332
00:22:10,590 --> 00:22:12,548
but something happened
that night that shocked
333
00:22:12,722 --> 00:22:14,681
him even more...
334
00:22:18,293 --> 00:22:20,556
A telegram had arrived
from his father,
335
00:22:20,730 --> 00:22:22,689
a cold and distant man
who had never sent him
336
00:22:22,863 --> 00:22:25,082
a telegram before.
337
00:22:25,256 --> 00:22:28,172
Berger's older sister had
become panic-stricken with the
338
00:22:28,347 --> 00:22:30,697
certainty that something
terrible had happened
339
00:22:30,871 --> 00:22:32,916
to her little brother.
340
00:22:33,090 --> 00:22:35,266
Was it possible,
Berger wondered,
341
00:22:35,441 --> 00:22:38,661
that in the moment that he
realized he was going to die,
342
00:22:38,835 --> 00:22:41,664
his brain had somehow
telepathically delivered a
343
00:22:41,838 --> 00:22:45,233
message to the person he
was closest to, his sister?
344
00:22:47,148 --> 00:22:49,324
Berger became a physician
and a professor at
345
00:22:49,498 --> 00:22:51,761
the University of Jena.
346
00:22:52,022 --> 00:22:54,808
By day, he worked with his
students and colleagues,
347
00:22:54,982 --> 00:22:57,463
who found him to be
awkwardly formal,
348
00:22:57,637 --> 00:22:59,595
and scientifically
unadventurous.
349
00:23:00,248 --> 00:23:02,990
But by night, he went to a
secret laboratory where he
350
00:23:03,164 --> 00:23:05,253
conducted experiments
on the brain's activity.
351
00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,741
Berger believed that this was
his best chance of proving
352
00:23:14,915 --> 00:23:18,005
that psychic energy was real.
353
00:23:19,223 --> 00:23:21,443
He feared that if anyone
were to discover his real
354
00:23:21,617 --> 00:23:25,142
scientific objective, he'd be
laughed out of the profession.
355
00:23:34,543 --> 00:23:37,590
He kept his secret
for 20 years.
356
00:23:41,942 --> 00:23:44,248
Berger's
electroencephalograph made it
357
00:23:44,423 --> 00:23:47,295
possible to interpret the
signals that the brain sends,
358
00:23:47,469 --> 00:23:50,429
and to diagnose many
neurological diseases,
359
00:23:50,603 --> 00:23:52,735
including epilepsy.
360
00:23:53,257 --> 00:23:55,564
He never did find any
evidence for psychic energy,
361
00:23:55,738 --> 00:23:58,219
or telepathic communication.
362
00:23:58,393 --> 00:24:00,700
Berger sunk into
a deep depression,
363
00:24:00,874 --> 00:24:04,181
and hanged himself in his
secret laboratory in 1941.
364
00:24:07,228 --> 00:24:11,188
The EEG is still in use today,
although we now have far more
365
00:24:11,362 --> 00:24:14,627
accurate ways of seeing and
recording what the brain does,
366
00:24:14,931 --> 00:24:17,717
and we even have the ability
to decrypt the electrochemical
367
00:24:17,891 --> 00:24:20,328
language of thought.
368
00:24:20,589 --> 00:24:23,984
Exactly 100 years after
Angelo Mosso first recorded
369
00:24:24,158 --> 00:24:26,508
the electrical whispers
of Giovanni's dreams,
370
00:24:27,770 --> 00:24:30,730
the brain waves of a woman
newly fallen in love,
371
00:24:30,904 --> 00:24:33,907
were included in the
Voyager Interstellar Message,
372
00:24:34,081 --> 00:24:36,431
destined to
sail the Milky Way
373
00:24:36,605 --> 00:24:39,434
for a billion years or more.
374
00:24:40,391 --> 00:24:43,220
From horse-drawn carriage
to interstellar craft,
375
00:24:43,394 --> 00:24:45,222
in just a 100 years.
376
00:24:45,396 --> 00:24:48,269
From telegrams to sending our
thoughts hand-delivered to one
377
00:24:48,443 --> 00:24:50,097
another at the speed of light,
378
00:24:50,271 --> 00:24:53,535
and our deepest feelings
to a billion years from now.
379
00:24:54,362 --> 00:24:56,712
How did we make that leap?
380
00:24:56,886 --> 00:24:58,845
And why us?
381
00:24:59,019 --> 00:25:02,283
Of all the billions
of species that have
ever lived on Earth,
382
00:25:02,457 --> 00:25:04,633
why us and no other?
383
00:25:19,300 --> 00:25:25,132
♪ ♪
384
00:25:39,450 --> 00:25:42,366
TYSON: Primates who descended
from the African savannah have
385
00:25:42,541 --> 00:25:45,674
sent their robot emissaries
to explore the red deserts of
386
00:25:45,848 --> 00:25:48,808
Mars, and ring that
world with satellites.
387
00:25:51,854 --> 00:25:54,640
We've only been at this
since the mid-20th century,
388
00:25:54,814 --> 00:25:57,599
not even a lifetime,
yet look at how far beyond
389
00:25:57,773 --> 00:25:59,775
our little world
our robots have ventured.
390
00:26:01,298 --> 00:26:03,170
One of our craft,
Voyager 1,
391
00:26:03,344 --> 00:26:05,346
has broken free of the Sun,
392
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:08,828
and now sails the deep
ocean of interstellar space.
393
00:26:10,873 --> 00:26:12,483
And every one
of those odysseys of
394
00:26:12,658 --> 00:26:15,051
discovery began here.
395
00:26:17,140 --> 00:26:19,186
It's easy to see why the
seat of all these mythic
396
00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:21,492
achievements would
itself seem beyond our
397
00:26:21,667 --> 00:26:23,843
ability to understand.
398
00:26:24,408 --> 00:26:26,628
It's hard to believe that
our minds are made of
399
00:26:26,802 --> 00:26:30,327
the same matter as our
stomachs and our feet.
400
00:26:31,807 --> 00:26:35,028
Consciousness
seems supernatural.
401
00:26:35,419 --> 00:26:37,508
Identity, awe...
402
00:26:37,683 --> 00:26:41,338
Skepticism, imagination, love.
403
00:26:42,426 --> 00:26:44,690
How do you assemble
transcendence from the
404
00:26:44,864 --> 00:26:47,257
periodic table
of the elements?
405
00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:55,875
We are at the
bottom of the sea,
406
00:26:56,049 --> 00:26:58,225
off the coast of
Chile and Peru.
407
00:26:58,399 --> 00:27:02,011
This is perhaps the largest
living organism on Earth.
408
00:27:02,272 --> 00:27:06,102
It's a community
of microbes that
is the size of a country...
409
00:27:06,363 --> 00:27:08,539
Greece.
410
00:27:08,714 --> 00:27:11,542
But there's something
even more amazing about
it than its immensity.
411
00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:17,984
The ancient ancestors
of these colonies
represent an early step in
412
00:27:18,158 --> 00:27:20,682
the development of brains.
413
00:27:20,856 --> 00:27:24,251
When the microbes
living at the center
of this vast mat get hungry,
414
00:27:24,773 --> 00:27:26,949
they dispatch
electrochemical messages to
415
00:27:27,123 --> 00:27:28,821
their fellow citizens
at the outer-edge.
416
00:27:31,258 --> 00:27:34,391
These communiqués
travel through passages
called ion channels.
417
00:27:36,393 --> 00:27:39,483
A message goes out on amber
waves of potassium from
418
00:27:39,658 --> 00:27:41,790
"“Sparta to Athens"” saying,
419
00:27:41,964 --> 00:27:45,098
"“Hey, guys, stop
hogging all the food!"”
420
00:27:45,272 --> 00:27:47,491
And the residents of the
mat's outer edge respond
421
00:27:47,666 --> 00:27:50,103
by reducing their
intake of nutrients.
422
00:27:51,539 --> 00:27:54,107
It's possible that their
ancient ancestors evolved
423
00:27:54,281 --> 00:27:57,284
cells called neurons
that specialized in
424
00:27:57,458 --> 00:27:59,155
this kind of messaging.
425
00:28:00,940 --> 00:28:03,464
Neurons are the basic unit
of nervous systems in almost
426
00:28:03,638 --> 00:28:07,120
every life form in the
animal kingdom, including us.
427
00:28:08,164 --> 00:28:11,559
And they vary very little
in nature, if at all,
428
00:28:11,733 --> 00:28:13,256
from species to species,
429
00:28:13,430 --> 00:28:15,650
but vary dramatically
in number.
430
00:28:15,824 --> 00:28:18,392
In fact, we now
think that epilepsy,
431
00:28:18,566 --> 00:28:20,829
that so-called
"“sacred disease,"”
432
00:28:21,003 --> 00:28:24,790
is a misfiring in the brain
of our own ion channels.
433
00:28:27,488 --> 00:28:30,796
Think of it: A microbial
mat and Isaac Newton,
434
00:28:30,970 --> 00:28:33,537
separated by hundreds of
millions of years of evolution,
435
00:28:34,364 --> 00:28:37,019
but sharing the same
basic currency of thought.
436
00:28:38,629 --> 00:28:41,241
The messaging system
pioneered by the microbes
437
00:28:41,415 --> 00:28:43,025
some four billion years ago,
438
00:28:43,199 --> 00:28:45,375
is still inside us.
439
00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:49,031
No one looking at a microbial
mat three billion years ago
440
00:28:49,205 --> 00:28:52,078
could have predicted that
the one-celled organisms
441
00:28:52,252 --> 00:28:55,124
of life on Earth would
evolve into you.
442
00:28:56,996 --> 00:28:59,607
That's what happens when
living things and environments
443
00:28:59,781 --> 00:29:02,305
interact over the eons.
444
00:29:02,479 --> 00:29:05,178
New forms and ways
of being alive and aware
445
00:29:05,352 --> 00:29:07,658
come into existence.
446
00:29:08,007 --> 00:29:10,966
When the whole
becomes greater than
the sum of its parts,
447
00:29:11,140 --> 00:29:13,534
it's called emergence.
448
00:29:20,410 --> 00:29:22,369
See the thing that looks
like a shred of a ruffle
449
00:29:22,543 --> 00:29:25,067
from a gaudy dress?
450
00:29:25,328 --> 00:29:27,200
You might think
it's kind of silly.
451
00:29:27,374 --> 00:29:29,593
But, you would be so wrong.
452
00:29:30,333 --> 00:29:33,467
Long, long ago, some
600 million years ago,
453
00:29:33,641 --> 00:29:36,426
life first evolved something
new to planet Earth,
454
00:29:36,731 --> 00:29:39,212
a command center that
could perceive and react
455
00:29:39,386 --> 00:29:41,562
to its environment...
456
00:29:41,736 --> 00:29:43,172
a brain.
457
00:29:43,346 --> 00:29:46,480
Now, life inched
closer to the stars.
458
00:29:46,741 --> 00:29:49,352
We think it first
happened inside a flatworm...
459
00:29:49,526 --> 00:29:52,747
this little guy's ancestor,
the first animal hunter.
460
00:29:54,793 --> 00:29:57,056
A brain was just what
a hunter would need to
461
00:29:57,230 --> 00:30:00,189
seek out and plan
a strategy for attack.
462
00:30:00,581 --> 00:30:03,279
Binocular vision allowed
the flatworm to perceive the
463
00:30:03,453 --> 00:30:07,240
dimension of depth
more sharply and objects
with greater clarity,
464
00:30:08,415 --> 00:30:11,070
all the better to
triangulate on prey.
465
00:30:11,766 --> 00:30:15,596
The flatworm brain
had a pair of dense nerve
clusters called "ganglia."
466
00:30:17,076 --> 00:30:18,773
Cords extended from them,
467
00:30:18,947 --> 00:30:20,993
carrying instructions and
sensations to the rest of its
468
00:30:21,167 --> 00:30:24,474
body via some 8,000 neurons.
469
00:30:25,127 --> 00:30:27,738
Not many compared
with the life forms
that would come later,
470
00:30:27,913 --> 00:30:29,784
but a momentous beginning.
471
00:30:29,958 --> 00:30:32,178
Flatworms have something
called auricles on the sides
472
00:30:32,352 --> 00:30:34,615
of their heads where
their ears should be,
473
00:30:34,789 --> 00:30:36,704
but they're actually noses.
474
00:30:37,574 --> 00:30:40,273
We may not look much alike,
but we have a lot in common.
475
00:30:41,927 --> 00:30:44,233
We share the same
chemicals that control
our nervous systems,
476
00:30:45,017 --> 00:30:47,236
called "“neurotransmitters."”
477
00:30:47,410 --> 00:30:49,978
We get addicted
to the same drugs.
478
00:30:50,152 --> 00:30:52,459
Flatworms can learn.
479
00:30:52,633 --> 00:30:54,591
They process information
about their environment
480
00:30:54,765 --> 00:30:56,637
and act accordingly.
481
00:30:56,811 --> 00:30:59,379
We think they're
nature's first animals
to have a front,
482
00:30:59,553 --> 00:31:01,120
a back and a head,
483
00:31:01,294 --> 00:31:03,600
a blueprint that
remains state of the art,
484
00:31:03,774 --> 00:31:06,125
600 million years later.
485
00:31:07,126 --> 00:31:10,433
And they were the true
pioneers in the deepest sense
486
00:31:10,607 --> 00:31:11,913
of that word.
487
00:31:12,087 --> 00:31:13,784
Unlike any life
form before them,
488
00:31:13,959 --> 00:31:16,483
they developed the habit of
venturing into the unknown
489
00:31:16,657 --> 00:31:19,399
territory in search
of what they craved.
490
00:31:20,835 --> 00:31:23,490
Okay, flatworms are cool,
but there's a big difference
491
00:31:23,664 --> 00:31:26,058
between a flatworm
brain and ours.
492
00:31:27,668 --> 00:31:29,888
How did we get
from there to here?
493
00:31:30,062 --> 00:31:32,194
We don't yet know.
494
00:31:32,368 --> 00:31:35,197
That's mainly because
brains tend to be squishy.
495
00:31:35,371 --> 00:31:38,200
They don't leave distinct
imprints in the fossil record.
496
00:31:38,374 --> 00:31:40,899
But the brain preserves
its evolutionary past...
497
00:31:42,422 --> 00:31:43,989
Why?
498
00:31:44,163 --> 00:31:47,818
Because our brains are a
little like New York City...
499
00:31:48,689 --> 00:31:52,127
[honking and sirens]
500
00:32:02,529 --> 00:32:06,620
[honking and sirens]
501
00:32:11,930 --> 00:32:15,585
TYSON:
Most of the world's great
cities have grown haphazardly,
502
00:32:15,759 --> 00:32:17,065
little by little,
503
00:32:17,239 --> 00:32:19,111
in response to the
needs of the moment;
504
00:32:19,285 --> 00:32:21,156
very rarely is
a city planned for
505
00:32:21,330 --> 00:32:23,028
the remote future.
506
00:32:23,767 --> 00:32:25,204
In New York City,
507
00:32:25,378 --> 00:32:26,640
many of the streets
date all the way back
508
00:32:26,814 --> 00:32:28,772
to the 17th century...
509
00:32:28,947 --> 00:32:30,905
the stock exchange
to the 18th...
510
00:32:32,167 --> 00:32:34,039
the waterworks and
the electrical power system
511
00:32:34,213 --> 00:32:36,563
to the 19th century.
512
00:32:36,737 --> 00:32:39,261
And the communications
bandwidth to the 20th.
513
00:32:47,052 --> 00:32:51,012
A city is like a brain: it
develops from a small center
514
00:32:52,318 --> 00:32:54,581
and slowly grows and changes,
515
00:32:55,234 --> 00:32:57,758
leaving many old
parts still functioning.
516
00:32:59,281 --> 00:33:02,154
New York can't afford to
suspend its water supply,
517
00:33:02,328 --> 00:33:03,851
or its transportation system,
518
00:33:04,025 --> 00:33:06,071
while they're being replaced
by something more efficient.
519
00:33:07,333 --> 00:33:09,900
Changes have to
happen piecemeal.
520
00:33:12,077 --> 00:33:14,253
And that's how it
is for the brain.
521
00:33:15,906 --> 00:33:18,605
There is no way for evolution
to rip out the ancient
522
00:33:18,779 --> 00:33:21,782
interior of the brain because
of its imperfections and
523
00:33:21,956 --> 00:33:25,264
replace it with something
of more modern manufacture.
524
00:33:25,612 --> 00:33:29,094
The brain and the city both
must function continuously
525
00:33:29,268 --> 00:33:31,487
during the renovation.
526
00:33:31,792 --> 00:33:34,273
That's why our limbic
system is surrounded by
527
00:33:34,447 --> 00:33:36,101
the cerebral cortex.
528
00:33:36,275 --> 00:33:39,365
The old part is in charge of
too many vital mechanisms for
529
00:33:39,539 --> 00:33:41,932
it to be replaced altogether.
530
00:33:42,107 --> 00:33:44,283
So, it's sometimes
counterproductive.
531
00:33:44,457 --> 00:33:47,068
But that's a necessary
consequence of evolution.
532
00:33:48,330 --> 00:33:51,681
The city is a gift of
the cerebral cortex.
533
00:33:56,034 --> 00:33:58,688
But the brain's language is
not encoded in the DNA of
534
00:33:58,862 --> 00:34:03,519
genes because the vocabulary
of life is too small.
535
00:34:03,693 --> 00:34:06,522
Our brains need a
language with 10,000 times
536
00:34:06,696 --> 00:34:08,481
as many words.
537
00:34:08,655 --> 00:34:10,961
The information content
of the human brain expressed
538
00:34:11,136 --> 00:34:15,053
in bits is probably
comparable to the total
number of connections
539
00:34:15,227 --> 00:34:16,663
among the neurons...
540
00:34:16,837 --> 00:34:20,275
about a thousand
trillion bits.
541
00:34:23,191 --> 00:34:26,194
If all the contents of your
brain were transcribed into
542
00:34:26,368 --> 00:34:30,416
written language, it would
amount to vastly more books
543
00:34:30,590 --> 00:34:33,767
than are contained in the
largest libraries on earth.
544
00:34:33,941 --> 00:34:37,118
The equivalent of more
than four billion books
545
00:34:37,292 --> 00:34:39,599
are inside your head.
546
00:34:39,773 --> 00:34:44,734
The brain is a very big
place in a very small space.
547
00:34:48,999 --> 00:34:51,654
It's written in those
neurons pioneered by
548
00:34:51,828 --> 00:34:54,570
the undersea microbial mats.
549
00:34:55,136 --> 00:34:58,400
These are tiny electrochemical
switching elements,
550
00:34:58,574 --> 00:35:01,621
typically a few hundredths
of a millimeter across.
551
00:35:02,143 --> 00:35:04,972
Each of us has
86 billion neurons,
552
00:35:05,146 --> 00:35:08,236
comparable to the number of
stars in the Milky Way galaxy.
553
00:35:09,019 --> 00:35:12,153
The neurons and their
parts, axons, dendrites,
554
00:35:12,327 --> 00:35:15,156
synapses and the cell
bodies themselves make up
555
00:35:15,330 --> 00:35:17,550
a network in the brain.
556
00:35:17,898 --> 00:35:19,856
Many neurons have
thousands of connections
557
00:35:20,030 --> 00:35:22,381
with their neighbors.
558
00:35:22,555 --> 00:35:26,689
Dendrites, those pathways
sent out by neurons to
connect with other neurons,
559
00:35:26,863 --> 00:35:29,518
extend these nerve
cells to synapses until
560
00:35:29,692 --> 00:35:32,652
they create a full-blown
network of consciousness.
561
00:35:51,845 --> 00:35:56,066
The neurochemistry of the
brain is astonishingly busy,
562
00:35:56,415 --> 00:35:58,982
the circuitry of a machine
more wonderful than any
563
00:35:59,157 --> 00:36:01,420
devised by humans.
564
00:36:01,594 --> 00:36:04,597
Your brain functions are
due to those 100 trillion
565
00:36:04,771 --> 00:36:07,861
neural connections
that make you, you.
566
00:36:08,601 --> 00:36:11,256
Your deepest feelings
of love and awe...
567
00:36:11,430 --> 00:36:14,128
those moments when we
glimpse the grandeur of nature,
568
00:36:14,302 --> 00:36:17,175
and all the elegant
architecture of consciousness...
569
00:36:17,610 --> 00:36:21,091
are made possible by
those connections.
570
00:36:21,527 --> 00:36:24,138
This is the
essence of emergence:
571
00:36:24,312 --> 00:36:26,923
tiny units of matter
operating collectively
572
00:36:27,097 --> 00:36:28,403
to become something much more
573
00:36:28,577 --> 00:36:30,231
than themselves,
574
00:36:30,405 --> 00:36:32,842
to enable the cosmos
to know itself.
575
00:36:34,496 --> 00:36:37,847
But there's a vision
of emergence that
takes it even higher.
576
00:36:38,021 --> 00:36:40,372
Can we know the universe?
577
00:36:41,068 --> 00:36:44,114
And will it ever
come to know us?
578
00:37:03,569 --> 00:37:06,572
TYSON: Can we
know the universe?
579
00:37:06,833 --> 00:37:09,836
All those galaxies, solar
systems, numberless worlds,
580
00:37:10,402 --> 00:37:13,666
moons, comets, beings,
and their dreams...
581
00:37:14,536 --> 00:37:17,974
everything that ever
was, is, or will be?
582
00:37:25,460 --> 00:37:28,724
Can we know the universe?
583
00:37:29,203 --> 00:37:32,598
I'm not sure we can even
know a grain of salt.
584
00:37:32,772 --> 00:37:35,688
Consider one microgram
of table salt,
585
00:37:35,862 --> 00:37:38,517
a speck just barely large
enough for someone with keen
586
00:37:38,691 --> 00:37:41,563
eyesight to see
without a microscope.
587
00:37:42,085 --> 00:37:45,437
In that grain of salt there
are about 10 to the power 16
588
00:37:45,611 --> 00:37:47,482
sodium and chlorine atoms.
589
00:37:48,353 --> 00:37:49,963
What does that mean?
590
00:37:50,137 --> 00:37:53,532
It means that there are 10
million billion atoms in this
591
00:37:53,706 --> 00:37:56,274
and every other
single grain of salt.
592
00:37:56,883 --> 00:37:59,233
To know the grain
of salt deeply,
593
00:37:59,407 --> 00:38:01,540
requires us to know at
least the three-dimensional
594
00:38:01,714 --> 00:38:03,629
positions of each
of these atoms.
595
00:38:03,803 --> 00:38:05,892
In fact, there's much
more to be known...
596
00:38:06,675 --> 00:38:09,983
for example, the nature of
the forces between the atoms.
597
00:38:10,549 --> 00:38:12,202
But okay, let's try
to keep it simple,
598
00:38:12,377 --> 00:38:14,161
we'll leave that aside.
599
00:38:14,335 --> 00:38:18,034
Is the number of all the
positions more or less than
600
00:38:18,208 --> 00:38:20,602
the number of things
which the brain can know?
601
00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:24,171
How much can the brain know?
602
00:38:24,432 --> 00:38:26,826
If you do the calculation,
with all the neurons and their
603
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:29,219
dendrites, axons, synapses...
604
00:38:29,394 --> 00:38:31,961
we can know 100
trillion things.
605
00:38:33,267 --> 00:38:36,662
But this is only 1%
of the number of atoms in
606
00:38:36,836 --> 00:38:38,577
our grain of salt.
607
00:38:38,751 --> 00:38:41,580
So in this sense, the
universe is unmanageable,
608
00:38:42,276 --> 00:38:45,061
astonishingly immune
to any human attempt
609
00:38:45,235 --> 00:38:46,933
at full knowledge.
610
00:38:47,107 --> 00:38:50,110
We cannot, at this level,
fully know a grain of salt,
611
00:38:50,284 --> 00:38:52,155
much less the universe.
612
00:38:52,330 --> 00:38:53,983
But let's look a
little more deeply at our
613
00:38:54,157 --> 00:38:56,334
microgram of salt.
614
00:38:56,856 --> 00:38:59,249
Salt happens to be
a crystal in which,
615
00:38:59,424 --> 00:39:02,165
except for defects in the
structure of its lattice,
616
00:39:02,340 --> 00:39:04,907
the position of
every sodium and chlorine
617
00:39:05,081 --> 00:39:06,822
atom is predetermined.
618
00:39:06,996 --> 00:39:09,869
If we shrink ourselves into
this crystalline world,
619
00:39:10,043 --> 00:39:13,960
we would see rank upon rank
of atoms in an ordered array,
620
00:39:14,134 --> 00:39:16,484
a regularly
alternating structure...
621
00:39:16,658 --> 00:39:19,269
sodium, chlorine,
sodium, chlorine...
622
00:39:20,270 --> 00:39:23,056
specifying the sheet of
atoms we are flying through,
623
00:39:23,230 --> 00:39:25,754
and all the sheets
above us and below us.
624
00:39:27,321 --> 00:39:30,672
An absolutely pure grain of
salt could have the position
625
00:39:30,846 --> 00:39:33,153
of every atom specified
by something like
626
00:39:33,327 --> 00:39:35,460
ten bits of information.
627
00:39:35,634 --> 00:39:38,114
This wouldn't strain our
brain's carrying capacity.
628
00:39:38,288 --> 00:39:41,204
We'd still have plenty
of room for other stuff.
629
00:39:41,379 --> 00:39:44,773
Now, imagine a universe with
natural laws that govern its
630
00:39:44,947 --> 00:39:48,473
behavior to the same degree
of regularity that's true
631
00:39:48,647 --> 00:39:50,649
for a grain of salt.
632
00:39:50,823 --> 00:39:53,347
That universe
would be knowable.
633
00:39:53,521 --> 00:39:55,828
Even if it had many
complicated laws,
634
00:39:56,002 --> 00:39:59,309
we'd still have a shot
at knowing that cosmos.
635
00:40:12,366 --> 00:40:14,760
It wouldn't matter if the
reality of that universe
636
00:40:14,934 --> 00:40:17,153
exceeded the
information-carrying capacity
637
00:40:17,327 --> 00:40:19,242
of one of our brains.
638
00:40:19,417 --> 00:40:21,897
We'd just go outside our
bodies and build a computer to
639
00:40:22,071 --> 00:40:24,683
store the surplus information.
640
00:40:25,118 --> 00:40:27,163
And we'd still,
in some sense,
641
00:40:27,337 --> 00:40:29,557
know the universe.
642
00:40:29,905 --> 00:40:33,039
Now, imagine a universe
with no such laws,
643
00:40:33,605 --> 00:40:36,390
one that behaves
in a completely
unpredictable fashion.
644
00:40:37,086 --> 00:40:40,350
That universe would contain
something like 10 to the 80th
645
00:40:40,525 --> 00:40:42,831
elementary particles.
646
00:40:43,179 --> 00:40:46,400
The inhabitants would find
everyday experience a muddled
647
00:40:46,574 --> 00:40:50,665
jumble of events with no
predictability, no regularity.
648
00:40:52,406 --> 00:40:54,887
And if they ever
came to exist,
649
00:40:55,061 --> 00:40:57,411
they would be in grave peril.
650
00:41:03,591 --> 00:41:07,377
Lucky for us, we live in a
universe with important parts
651
00:41:07,552 --> 00:41:09,510
that are knowable.
652
00:41:09,684 --> 00:41:11,904
The universe belongs
to those who,
653
00:41:12,078 --> 00:41:15,081
at least to some degree,
have figured it out.
654
00:41:16,082 --> 00:41:19,259
It's an astonishing fact
that there are laws of nature,
655
00:41:19,433 --> 00:41:20,913
rules that summarize...
656
00:41:21,087 --> 00:41:23,698
not just qualitatively
but quantitatively,
657
00:41:23,872 --> 00:41:26,614
how the cosmos works.
658
00:41:26,788 --> 00:41:30,575
But what about the
cosmos inside each of us...
659
00:41:30,749 --> 00:41:34,100
That unknown and solitary sea?
660
00:41:34,709 --> 00:41:36,972
There are something
like 100 trillion...
661
00:41:37,146 --> 00:41:40,976
that is, one-hundred thousand
billion connections
662
00:41:41,455 --> 00:41:43,457
in your cerebral cortex.
663
00:41:43,631 --> 00:41:46,982
That's 100 times as many
connections inside you as all
664
00:41:47,156 --> 00:41:49,942
the galaxies of the
visible universe.
665
00:41:51,073 --> 00:41:53,249
We're just at
the beginning of a great
666
00:41:53,423 --> 00:41:55,556
journey of exploration.
667
00:41:55,730 --> 00:41:59,299
Just as biologists succeeded
in mapping the human genome,
668
00:41:59,691 --> 00:42:02,607
neuroscientists are
attempting to map something
669
00:42:02,781 --> 00:42:06,436
far more complex and unique
to each and every one of us.
670
00:42:07,481 --> 00:42:10,136
It's called our connectome.
671
00:42:14,662 --> 00:42:18,100
If we could truly know
another person's connectome,
672
00:42:18,274 --> 00:42:21,800
the singular wiring diagram
of all their memories,
673
00:42:21,974 --> 00:42:24,454
thoughts, fears, dreams...
674
00:42:25,978 --> 00:42:28,023
How would we treat each other?
675
00:42:28,197 --> 00:42:30,809
Could we heal the brain
of its countless torments,
676
00:42:31,679 --> 00:42:34,639
and free all the
Giovanni's of the world?
677
00:42:35,727 --> 00:42:39,992
Could we send one
of our connectomes on a
future interstellar probe,
678
00:42:40,514 --> 00:42:42,168
or ever hope to
receive one from the
679
00:42:42,342 --> 00:42:45,475
being of another world?
680
00:42:58,097 --> 00:43:02,188
Would that be the ultimate
realization of emergence...
681
00:43:02,884 --> 00:43:08,020
a cosmos interconnected
by thoughts and dreams?
682
00:43:11,066 --> 00:43:12,502
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