10 episodes · 14th July 2014
Join host Jason Silva in a series of interactive games and experiments that explores your brain's capacity for compassion, and questions the motives behind both your selfless and selfish acts. In this episode we'll tackle the age-old question of nature vs. nurture, and test whether altruistic inclinations are hardwired in our brain from birth. You'll discover if you're actually born naughty or nice, and explore the chances of finding a psychopath among your family or friends — or even in the mirror!
We all have things we say we can’t live without — coffee, smartphones, social media... But do we really need all those things, or on some deep level are we addicted to them? In this episode we’ll put you through a series of games and experiments designed to reveal how, like it or not, we’re all addicted to something, and why some addictions might be the best thing that ever happened to you. Learn what one of the most addictive sounds in the world is, why you can’t stop checking your phone, and why that awful pop song is still stuck in your head.
Would you believe language is the closest thing humans have to telepathy? Or that you speak volumes every day without uttering a single word? Play along as host Jason Silva — with help from biomedical-engineer Sri Sarma of Johns Hopkins University — leads you on a journey of discovery through the mystery of how you create meaning, and more. After we break down what to look for, viewers will be conversant in the hidden language of gestures, tells, and nonverbal signals. Through a series of addictive interactive games and unexpected experiments you’ll discover how language might be your brain’s most remarkable ability.
Whether it's choosing what to eat for breakfast, where to invest your money or just when to cross the street, nearly every choice you make involves some sort of calculated risk. This episode explores how your brain evaluates risk — you'll discover why we're all born risk-takers and how life is often a big game of chance. You'll also find out that while your brain is hardwired to analyze risk, it doesn’t always make the most logical decisions. But pay attention, and you'll learn how to assess risk like your life depends on it... because it does!
Girls and boys. Guys and gals. Ladies and Gentlemen. No matter how you say it, it all comes down to the same thing: Male and Female. In this episode the male brain and the female brain go head to head. We’re going to pit teams of men and women against each other in a series of games and experiments designed to mess with your mind and show you how the genders are not created equally... from how we talk, to how we listen, and especially how we think.
Do you have a lucky number? Do you cross the street to avoid black cats? Have you ever thought you knew what someone was about to say–and turned out to be right? This is a show about your brain and superstition. Superstition is a big part of our everyday lives, and the same power our brain has to learn language, find meaning in chaos, and hit home runs makes us believe things that have no basis in reality. We’re going to mess with your mind as we put you through a series of games and experiments that will reveal how your brain may be hardwired to be superstitious. You'll find out if someone really can read your mind, and how you can do it too.
In this episode, you'll discover that what goes into your stomach has less to do with your mouth and more to do with your brain. You'll see what happens when we turn up the volume on our test subjects' appetites through sound and smell, and learn how many of your food choices often have nothing to do with food. Through a series of interactive games and experiments you'll discover what makes you hungry, why you overeat, and whether you should take comfort in comfort food.
Whether it's full blown road rage or just the ever-present frustration at life's little inconveniences, we all feel a little mad sometimes. But what if getting angry had less to do with what's going on outside, and more to do with what's going on inside your brain? In this episode we'll explore why your brain gets angry and what you can do about it. Through a series of games and experiments, we'll prove to you that anger isn't always a bad thing, and how having a short fuse might not be the worst trait to have. Also you'll learn how to deal better with the anger of other people, and your own.
Have you ever looked up at the night sky and thought you saw a man in the moon? In this episode, we're going to prove that there really is a man in the moon—in your brain. This is a show about your brain and patterns. Through a series of games and experiments, we'll show you how, when processing the world, your brain is always filling in the blanks. And whether you realize it or not, your life a series of complex patterns that repeat again, and again, and again. You'll learn exactly how patterns and habits rule your world, and you'll discover that what you think of as free will, might really be habit.
Ever had the strange sensation of just knowing something without being able to say how you know it? Or been bothered by something without knowing why? That tiny feeling is the key to unlocking one of your brain’s most powerful abilities: intuition. In this episode of Brain Games, we'll put your brain to the ultimate test with a series of interactive games and fascinating experiments that reveal a useful piece of advice: you should stop thinking with your head and listen to your gut.
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