# Your Brain is Running a Simulation Right Now [Max Bennett]

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/machine-learning-street-talk/your-brain-is-running-a-simulation-right-now-max-bennett
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/machine-learning-street-talk/your-brain-is-running-a-simulation-right-now-max-bennett.md
Podcast: [Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST)](https://stenobird.com/podcast/machine-learning-street-talk)
Published: 2025-12-30T07:26:36+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/machinelearningstreettalk/episodes/Your-Brain-is-Running-a-Simulation-Right-Now-Max-Bennett-e3cvce2
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO4908706053.mp3
Processing state: processed
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/machine-learning-street-talk/episodes/your-brain-is-running-a-simulation-right-now-max-bennett
Duration seconds: 11829

## Resource

Tim sits down with Max Bennett to explore how our brains evolved over 600 million years—and what that means for understanding both human intelligence and AI. Max isn't a neuroscientist by training. He's a tech entrepreneur who got curious, started reading, and ended up weaving together three fields that rarely talk to each other: comparative psychology (what different animals can actually do), evolutionary neuroscience (how brains changed over time), and AI (what actually works in practice). *Your Brain Is a Guessing Machine* You don't actually "see" the world. Your brain builds a simulation of what it *thinks* is out there and just uses your eyes to check if it's right. That's why optical illusions work—your brain is filling in a triangle that isn't there, or can't decide if it's looking at a duck or a rabbit. *Rats Have Regrets* *Chimps Are Machiavellian* *Language Is the Human Superpower* *Does ChatGPT Think?* (truncated description, more on rescript) Understanding how the brain evolved isn't just about the past. It gives us clues about: - What's actually different between human intelligence and AI - Why we're so easily fooled by status games and tribal thinking - What features we might want to build into—or leave out of—future AI systems Get Max's book: https://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-Intelligence-Humans-Breakthroughs/dp/0063286343 Rescript: https://app.rescript.info/public/share/R234b7AXyDXZusqQ_43KMGsUSvJ2TpSz2I3emnI6j9A --- TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 Introduction: Outsider's Advantage & Neocortex Theories 00:11:34 Perception as Inference: The Filling-In Machine 00:19:11 Understanding, Recognition & Generative Models 00:36:39 How Mice Plan: Vicarious Trial & Error 00:46:15 Evolution of Self: The Layer 4 Mystery 00:58:31 Ancient Minds & Th…

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