The Case Against Reality (w/Prof. Donald Hoffman)

We have NO CLUE how consciousness emerges from 3 pounds of wet goo. Cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman takes us deep into his research that makes a bold claim: we’ve been attacking the problem BACKWARDS.

The implications of his theories just may change everything you think you know about reality and our place in it. Take the Red Pill and see how deep the rabbit hole goes…

And DEFINITELY check out his book as it really lays out his case beautifully.

In this extended interview we dive into the Interface Theory of Perception (how evolution hides the truth about reality in favor of a dumbed down user interface that only shows us “fitness” payoffs that help us survive), the “Hard Problem of Consciousness” and how we simply have no idea how consciousness could emerge from physical matter, the theory of Conscious Realism (how reality is really a mathematically-definable social network of conscious “agents” and our perceptions are simply the interface by which we exchange experience with other conscious agents), the math behind conscious agent theory, implications for artificial intelligence (AI), what happens when we die, the limitation of resources in the universe, synesthesia, psychedelics, spirituality, medicine, and much much more.

Prof. Donald Hoffman, apart from being a brilliant scientist, is a wonderful and warm human being in person. Check out our first audio-only conversation from 2018 here, and my take on his theory of consciousness here.

Here's the video and transcript of our interview.

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