LATEST DIALOGUES Do we see reality as it is? – Donald Hoffman
A wonderful talk by the cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman trying to answer the big question: Do we experience the world as it really is … or as we need it to be? In this ever so slightly mind-blowing talk, he ponders how our minds construct reality for us.
Donald Hoffman studies how our visual perception, guided by millions of years of natural selection, authors every aspect of our everyday reality. Donald Hoffman will be a keynote presenter at SAND15 in San Jose, CA Oct. 25-27.
In his research to uncover the underlying secrets of human perception, Donald Hoffman has discovered important clues pointing to the subjective nature of reality.
Rather than as a set of absolute physical principles, reality is best understood as a set of phenomena our brain constructs to guide our behavior. To put it simply: we actively create everything we see, and there is no aspect of reality that does not depend on consciousness.
Hoffman is a faculty member at UC Irvine and a recipient of the Troland Award of the US National Academy of Sciences.
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June 16, 2015 at 11:27 am, Spencer Haden said:
Wouldn’t seeing past the nature of our relative perception step humanity into the next stage of evolution maybe even perceiving 4 dimensional abilities. It would also be interesting so see the process of this happening since all peoples perceptions would not evolve simultaneously. That would be a very interesting model to run in a simulation.
June 27, 2015 at 7:11 pm, Orion Xalanda said:
What is Reality, none can know. What we perceive as reality is three dimensional projection of what appears to be real, as perceived through the five senses. Beyond that, no one can say with any accuracy of what is real.
Reality itself is indescribable, and imperceptible! The so-called fourth dimension is allthetime present. How is that so? Beyond the three states of consciousness: waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, or (death) if you will, exist a state that cannot be described in words, but only experienced.
However, is it ”real?” Who is to say what is Real? Like Truth. . . all is relative to ones being of experience.
Do we experience the world as it really is? None can say how the world truly is, but only how it appears to be. All experience is subject to relativity. . . .
June 27, 2015 at 9:11 pm, Nemir Adjina said:
The point about the brain not being just a mental construct is well presented.