E63 - Donald Hoffman, Proof That Reality Is An ILLUSION: The Mystery Beyond Space-Time
Know Thyself
André Duqum
4.8 • 658 Ratings
🗓️ 12 September 2023
⏱️ 123 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this thought-provoking episode, cognitive psychologist and author Donald Hoffman takes us on a journey through the mysteries of consciousness and reality. From questioning the nature of what we perceive to pondering the existence of inanimate consciousness, Hoffman challenges conventional beliefs and explores the profound implications of proving local realism false.
He delves into topics such as the illusion of free will, the role of love in metaphysics, and the possibility of reincarnation. Prepare to have your mind expanded as we contemplate the nature of reality itself and how this paradigm-shifting understanding will change everything.
Download André's FREE Book Recommendation List: https://www.knowthyself.one/books
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Timecodes:
(0:00) Introduction
(2:30) The Question of Consciousness & Evolution
(9:56) Is What We See Real?
(12:47) Implications of Proving Local Realism is False
(16:55) Are Inanimate Objects Conscious?
(24:53) What Makes Something Conscious?
(29:06) We’re looking at the problem wrong
(40:34) How evolution hid the truth from us
(47:22) Conscious Agents: what’s outside of space time?
(54:00) Are We in a Simulation?
(1:00:40) Seeing the Oneness in All
(1:02:38) Concepts of Karma and Reincarnation
(1:07:00) Implications on how we act in the world
(1:12:02) Self Compassion
(1:13:35) Death & Facing the idea of impermanence
(1:17:14) Does reincarnation exist?
(1:22:41) Meditation & Spiritual Practices
(1:30:30) The role that love plays in metaphysics
(1:31:54) Free will & The illusion of choice
(1:41:40) How Relationships Serve Purpose on the evolution of consciousness
(1:45:23) AI & technology assisting the collective awakening
(1:53:52) What it takes to prove this theory
(1:58:30) This will change everything
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Donald David Hoffman is an American cognitive psychologist and popular science author. He is a professor in the Department of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine, with joint appointments in the Department of Philosophy, the Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science, and the School of Computer Science.
Hoffman studies consciousness, visual perception and evolutionary psychology using mathematical models and psychophysical experiments. His research subjects include facial attractiveness, the recognition of shape, the perception of motion and color, the evolution of perception, and the mind–body problem.
He has co-authored two technical books; Observer Mechanics: A Formal Theory of Perception (1989) offers a theory of consciousness and its relationship to physics; Automotive Lighting and Human Vision (2005) applies vision science to vehicle lighting. His book Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See (1998) presents the modern science of visual perception to a broad audience. His 2015 TED Talk, "Do we see reality as it is?" argues that our perceptions have evolved to hide reality from us.
Book: https://www.amazon.com/The-Case-Against-Reality/dp/0141983418/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1694112697&refinements=p_27%3ADonald+Hoffman&s=books&sr=1-1&text=Donald+Hoffman
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Know Thyself
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Each one of us is the deepest reality and the deepest truth and the deepest love that is possible. |
| 0:05.5 | Most of us are spending our lives completely ignorant of who we really are. |
| 0:09.4 | Most of my colleagues, they assume that space time is fundamental, which is false. |
| 0:13.4 | They assume that brain activity somehow gives rise to conscious experiences, which is false. |
| 0:18.7 | And what they're missing is this. |
| 0:20.5 | Space and time and objects in |
| 0:22.5 | space and time do not exist when they're not perceived. We've mistaken a limit of our headset for an |
| 0:29.3 | insight into the nature of reality. There's that old saying if a tree falls in the woods and no one |
| 0:34.4 | sees it, does it still make a sound? But you're saying, like, does the tree even actually exist? |
| 0:39.3 | That's exactly right. |
| 0:40.3 | The question then is what's outside of our space-time headset? |
| 0:43.3 | Science will continue to progress because we are not little three-pound brains. |
| 0:47.3 | We are the infinite intelligence. |
| 0:49.3 | Each of us is infinitely precious and infinitely intelligent. |
| 0:53.3 | Anything that you can say is perhaps ultimately |
| 0:56.0 | trivial compared to the reality that you are. But on the other hand, you can know it, not intellectually, |
| 1:00.6 | but by being. |
| 1:07.6 | Hello, beautiful beings. Welcome back to the Know They Self podcast where every single week we get the honor and privilege and opportunity to sit down with a brilliant mind, a deep soul, to see what we can learn more about the true nature of self and the world around us at deeper and deeper levels. My guest today has a PhD in cognitive psychology. He is a professor of cognitive sciences at UCI, |
| 1:29.6 | whose groundbreaking research shakes the very foundations of our understanding of reality. |
| 1:35.1 | He is an author of visual intelligence and the case against reality. |
| 1:39.7 | His extensive research in cognitive psychology and evolutionary game theory |
| 1:43.9 | has made him a leading figure in the field of consciousness studies. |
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