#293 – Donald Hoffman: Reality is an Illusion – How Evolution Hid the Truth
Lex Fridman Podcast
Lex Fridman
4.7 • 13.6K Ratings
🗓️ 12 June 2022
⏱️ 203 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Donald Hoffman is a cognitive scientist at UC Irvine and author of The Case Against Reality. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Donald’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/donalddhoffman
Donald’s Website: http://cogsci.uci.edu/~ddhoff/
Documents & Articles:
1. Could a Neuroscientist Understand a Microprocessor?: https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005268
2. Conscious Agent Networks: https://chrisfieldsresearch.com/CA-circuits-CSR-rev2.pdf
3. The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Argument in Quantum Theory: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qt-epr/
Books:
1. The Case Against Reality: https://amzn.to/3MhW4Wt
2. Vision: https://amzn.to/3Q4ibTm
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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(08:04) – Case against reality
(19:33) – Spacetime
(43:57) – Reductionism
(1:04:23) – Evolutionary game theory
(1:32:46) – Consciousness
(2:28:06) – Visualizing reality
(2:43:23) – Ephemerality of life
(2:51:48) – Simulation theory
(2:57:30) – Difficult ideas
(3:12:32) – Love
(3:16:07) – Advice for young people
(3:18:26) – Meaning of life
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The following is a conversation with Donald Hoffman, professor of cognitive sciences at UC |
| 0:04.5 | Irvine, focusing his research on evolutionary psychology, visual perception, and consciousness. |
| 0:11.6 | He is the author of over 120 scientific papers on these topics and his most recent book titled |
| 0:18.6 | The Case Against Reality, why evolution hid the truth from our eyes. |
| 0:24.2 | I think some of the most interesting ideas in this world, like those of Donald Hoffman's |
| 0:28.8 | attempt to shake the foundation of our understanding of reality and thus they take a long time |
| 0:35.8 | to internalize deeply. |
| 0:37.9 | So proceed with caution. |
| 0:40.1 | Questioning the fabric of reality can lead you to either madness or the truth. |
| 0:46.1 | And the funny thing is, you won't know which is which. |
| 0:49.0 | Now, a quick few second mention of each sponsor. |
| 0:52.4 | Check them out in the description. |
| 0:53.7 | It's the best way to support this podcast. |
| 0:57.5 | We got calm for meditation, element for hydration, inside track of for longevity, master class |
| 1:04.4 | for inspiration, and indeed for hiring. |
| 1:07.5 | Choose wise, my friends. |
| 1:09.2 | And now onto the full ad reads. |
| 1:11.2 | As always, no ads in the middle. |
| 1:12.6 | I try to make these interesting, but if you skip them, please still check out our sponsors. |
| 1:17.0 | I enjoy their stuff. |
| 1:18.4 | Maybe you will too. |
| 1:21.3 | This show is brought to you by calm, meditation and mental wellness app. |
... |
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