Some years ago I asked one of my daughters, as she sat at the piano, “When you hit that piano key with your finger, how does your mind tell your finger what to do?” She thought for a moment, her face brightening with the intellectual challenge, and said, “Well, my brain writes a little note and sends it down my arm to my hand, then then my hand reads the note and knows what to do.” Not too bad for a five-year old.

Lamb’s point was that lots of professional neuroscientists talk in pretty much the same terms. How does it feel to have a daughter who understands the brain as well as, e.g. Antonia Damasio?