/sci/ - Science & Math

Most people on /sci/ seem to appreciate GEB despite the fact that it doesn't go into much detail on the issues in brings up in cognitive science, neurobiology, or the philosophy of mind. After reading it a couple years ago and enjoying these topics, I wanted to finally develop some kind of regiment to investigate these areas further, since my main research area is mathematics.

The philosophy of mind stuff led me more directly into just plain philosophy (since the whole discipline builds on itself fairly steeply), and I was able to get a good thing going starting at a brisk pace in ancient philosophy, which has been quite fun from the historical perspective that it gives.

What do I do to get an idea of neurobiology and cognitive science in general? Are there Coursera or iTunes U courses that are approachable (I haven't found any)?

I've seen a couple people get shot down for mentioning GEB by those who seem to have more experience in these fields. As someone who is interested in the ideas presented in the book, what exactly do you expect someone to know to avoid being a complete moron about them? In particular, things like the mind as a goal seeking machine, emergent properties of self referential systems, etc.