You (Don't) Know Where You Are

The Rest Is Science

Goalhanger

Physics, Science, Mathematics

4.5 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2026

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If someone asked you to point to yourself, where would you point? Your chest? Your head? Somewhere just behind your eyes? Where are you? In this episode, Professor Hannah Fry and VSauce’s Michael Stevens explore how the brain maps and understands out location, from the inner ear fluid that tells us which way is up, to the grid and place cells that build a kind of internal GPS. But how do London taxi drivers rewire their brains to memorise entire cities when the rest of us can’t? How does language change the way we orient in space? And what happens when your senses disagree about your where in the world you are? Moving from avalanches and virtual reality to ancient philosophy and modern neuroscience, Hannah and Michael move from how to find ourselves on a map to how locating the “self” inside the body may be one of the deepest mysteries in science. Why did Aristotle believe the self lived in the heart instead of the head? If we’re asked to find the self where do we point? What does it mean to say that you are somewhere…at all? ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠. Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Researcher: Hannah Dodd-Vastiau Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to The Rest is Science. I'm Michael Stevens. And I'm Hannah Fry. And you are listening. I don't know your name, but I want you to follow along. And Hannah, you too, with a little experiment. We're starting right off the bat with an experiment. All right. Those of you listening at home, Hannah, I'm going to do this too. Everyone point at your forehead. Okay. Are you pointing at your forehead? Good. Now point to your chest. Now point at your forehead. Okay, are you pointing at your forehead? Good.
0:21.2	Now point to your chest.
0:23.8	Now point at your knees.
0:26.4	Point at your nose.
0:29.2	Now point at your shoulders.
0:31.6	Now point it yourself.
0:34.6	Where are you pointing?
0:36.7	Same place as chest. Same place as chest.
0:37.8	Same place as chest. Interesting.
0:39.8	Down in the comments below, let us know where you are pointing.
0:43.8	Did you do the chest, the belly, go back up to the face?
0:47.3	Where is the unique seat of yourself?
0:50.3	Where are you? Where am I? How do we know any of this stuff?
0:53.8	Where am I in my body? Where am I in
0:56.0	the universe? Well, that's what we're talking about today. And this is going to take two parts, really.
1:00.1	I think the first part is going to be a sort of a standard, straightforward answer to this question,
1:06.3	as I guess ordinary humans would ask it. Where in the world are you? How do you work out where you are?
1:12.2	And then in the second part, we're going to delve deep into Michael's, I mean, the wonders of your mind, Michael, of what does it mean to say you are where you are?
1:25.0	That's fair? That's right, Hannah. And as it turns out, both of those questions
1:28.7	are related in a boring way, but they're unrelated in a fascinating way. There we go. That's the
1:36.7	hook and tease for this episode right there. This episode is brought to you by Cancer Research UK.
1:48.3	The word cancer comes from the Greek carcinos, meaning crab.
	...

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