According to legend, the Gordian knot securing an ox-cart in the kingdom of Phrygia was one so fiendishly complex that nobody could untie it: an oracle proclaimed that the person who did would rule over all Asia. Greater acclaim still might be in store for the person who can unravel the workings of the mind, a tangled mass of neurons no less complicated.
Nonetheless, there’s no shortage of people willing to tug at a loose thread to see what happens. From scientists to self-experimenters, this chapter chronicles some of pioneering work going on to shed light on the mysteries of the human mind, and how we can intervene to prevent disease, heal trauma and pursue healthier, happier lives.
You’ll learn how holes drilled into the skull can create a peephole to its inner workings, the superpowers your mind offers and how to boost them, the party drugs that grew up and got proper jobs helping to save lives and the enduring mystery of what anaesthesia does to the brain.
In the end, it was Alexander the Great who finally loosed the Gordian knot: by slicing through it with his sword. An acceptable solution for freeing ox-carts maybe, but please do take more care with your mind.