I just listened to an interview with David Eagleman, author of Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain. Just wanted to share my notes on the talk, of course it’s very worth listening to in complete (37 minutes). 
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I really do love the metaphor of thinking as the brain as a parliament – where you have different fractions that are often in conflict with each other. For example, when presented with an opportunity for a cookie, there’s one party in my brain which says: yes, I want that cookie, eat it! And then there’s another part which says: “No, don’t eat that. Yes, it’ll taste good, but it’s nothing but low quality carbohydrates, just makes you fat, and it’s not good for your teeth either. Stay away from it.” And then both parts of my brain engage in a heated debate (and the debate gets even more heated when it’s not a cookie, but chocolate – I really was kind of a chocolate addict).
