Sneek Philosophy Café: Douwe Draaisma on “What Our Brains Make Us Believe: On Silence, Delusions, and Hallucinations”

The theme for History Month is “Body and Mind.” The Sneek Philosophy Café and the Library are organizing a joint event this month on the relationship between our brains and topics such as silence, delusions, and hallucinations. The guest speaker is Douwe Draaisma, professor emeritus of psychology.  Our brains aren’t designed for silence. When it—literally—becomes increasingly quiet, for example due to progressive hearing loss, the brain may respond by experiencing hallucinations, sometimes in the form of auditory hallucinations. As eyesight declines, visual hallucinations may occur. Even in the presence of monotonous, uniform stimuli or sensory deprivation, the brain draws from its own reserves to generate stimuli that need to be processed.