donald hoffman

Dr. Jordan B Peterson and cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Donald Hoffman discuss what we know as reality, why space time is now being considered a “doomed” framework, and how consciousness can be understood as a vast probability space within which we orient ourselves.

Hoffman received a Bachelor of Arts degree in quantitative psychology from the University of California at Los Angeles, and then his Doctorate of Philosophy in computational psychology at MIT. He briefly worked as a research scientist at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab, before taking on the role of assistant professor at the University of California at Irvine. He is now a professor in the department of Cognitive Sciences. He has written four books (below), on the topics of human vision, perception, consciousness, and the effects of/reasons for evolution on each. He is also a key proponent of MUI (Multimodal User Interface) theory, which states that "perceptual experiences do not match or approximate properties of the objective world, but instead provide a simplified, species-specific, user interface to that world." Hoffman argues that conscious beings have not evolved to perceive the world as it actually is but have evolved to perceive the world in a way that maximizes "fitness payoffs.”

- Links -

For Dr. Donald Hoffman:

"The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes" (Book) https://www.amazon.com/Case-Against-Reality-Evolution-Truth-ebook/dp/B07JR1FDXH/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1OMOD0ZGPHCT9&keywords=the+case+against+reality&qid=1697060197&s=digital-text&sprefix=the+case+against%2Cdigital-text%2C189&sr=1-1

"Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See" (Book) https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Intelligence-How-Create-What/dp/0393319679/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QZBIXXULF7VC&keywords=Visual+intelligence+hoffman&qid=1697060273&s=digital-text&sprefix=visual+intelligence+hoffman%2Cdigital-text%2C138&sr=1-1-catcorr

Dr. Hoffman on X https://twitter.com/donalddhoffman?lang=en

Dr. Hoffman's Ted Talk https://www.ted.com/talks/donald_hoffman_do_we_see_reality_as_it_is?language=en 

This is Part 2 of my mind-blowing conversation with the brilliant Dr. Donald Hoffman.

Donald is a full professor of cognitive science at the University of California, the author of The Case Against Reality and Visual Intelligence, and the co-author of Observer Mechanics.

Within his body of work, Donald studies how our visual perception, guided by millions of years of natural selection, generates every aspect of our so-called reality. Through his research, he has discovered important clues pointing to the subjective nature of reality, which can be best understood as a set of phenomena our brain constructs to guide our behavior. In other words, we actively create everything we see, and we see what we need to see to make sense of things and survive.  This is a truly mind-blowing conversation, so get ready to work your brain and challenge your perceptions at their very most fundamental.

Donald has received a Distinguished Scientific Award of the American Psychological Association for early career research into visual perception, the Rustum Roy Award of the Chopra Foundation, and the Troland Research Award of the US National Academy of Sciences. 

Listen as we discuss:

• The brain is just an icon, and accepting that as a neuroscientist is possible.
• Brains do not exist when they're not observed, nor does anything else.
• We render what we see every time we perceive it and garbage collect it.
• Getting into the flow state while playing video games is like rendering a new reality.
• Donald's current work on trying to find a mathematical model for conscious agents
• How you can manipulate the visual cortex and movement perception with magnets
• Each hemisphere of the brain has different consciousness, knowledge and worldviews.
• Natural selection has hidden the truth from us.
• The tools of science can be applied to something beyond spacetime - spirituality.
• The role of the observer in quantum theory, and quantum theory is nothing but the algebra of space-time.

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Connect with Donald Hoffman on Twitter @donaldhoffman.

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YouTube: @mogawdatofficial
Instagram: @mo_gawdat
Facebook: @mo.gawdat.official
LinkedIn: /in/mogawdat
X: @mgawdat
Website: mogawdat.com

Don't forget to subscribe to Slo Mo for new episodes every Saturday. Only with your help can we reach One Billion Happy #onebillionhappy

Today’s guest is the brilliant Dr. Donald Hoffman. Donald is a full professor of cognitive science at the University of California, the author of The Case Against Reality and Visual Intelligence, and the co-author of Observer Mechanics.

Within his body of work, Donald studies how our visual perception, guided by millions of years of natural selection, generates every aspect of our so-called reality. Through his research, he has discovered important clues pointing to the subjective nature of reality, which can be best understood as a set of phenomena our brain constructs to guide our behavior. In other words, we actively create everything we see, and we see what we need to see to make sense of things and survive.  This is a truly mind-blowing conversation, so get ready to work your brain and challenge your perceptions at their very most fundamental.

Donald has received a Distinguished Scientific Award of the American Psychological Association for early career research into visual perception, the Rustum Roy Award of the Chopra Foundation, and the Troland Research Award of the US National Academy of Sciences. 

Listen as we discuss:

• How did Donald get into the full time study of making a case against reality?
• Why mathematical models of processing reality are still ignoring a deeper layer.
• You cannot infer from what you're doing in a game what is actually rendering the game.
• We only see the parts of the game we focus on.
• Evolution has given us a VR headset, not a window into reality, and the point of it is to win the game of life.
• Winning the game and seeing the truth are two very different things.
• If you try to control reality directly, you're going to be very inefficient and lose the game.
• Science is evolving, and space-time is doomed because it's in "the game world".
• We're programmed to believe in "reality" from age 4 and never question it.
• Humility is how we learn.
• The brain is an icon in your perception, not a causal mechanism.
• Donald's Theory of Conscious Agents and why existence is like Twitter
• Reality is a visualization tool that distills and focuses our experience so we don't get overwhelmed.
• Everything is just icons we associate with a consciousness.

Instagram: @mo_gawdat
Facebook: @mo.gawdat.official
Twitter: @mgawdat
LinkedIn: /in/mogawdat

Connect with Donald Hoffman on Twitter @donaldhoffman

Don't forget to subscribe to Slo Mo for new episodes every Sunday and Thursday. Only with your help can we reach One Billion Happy #onebillionhappy.

YouTube: @mogawdatofficial
Instagram: @mo_gawdat
Facebook: @mo.gawdat.official
LinkedIn: /in/mogawdat
X: @mgawdat
Website: mogawdat.com

Don't forget to subscribe to Slo Mo for new episodes every Saturday. Only with your help can we reach One Billion Happy #onebillionhappy