Donald Hoffman: Consciousness, Perception, Evolution & the Nature of Reality | #65

Nick talks to cognitive scientist Dr. Donald Hoffman, who is professor emeritus of cognitive sciences at UC-Irvine and the author of many scientific papers and books, including "The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes.”

They discussed a variety of topics related to consciousness, the nature of perception, and evolution, including: how perception works; whether our conscious perceptions are accurate representations of underlying reality; the interface theory of perception, which likens our conscious perceptions to the digital icons displayed on your computer screen; language; psychedelic experiences; and the nature of reality itself, such as whether space and time are fundamental aspects of the universe, or artifacts of perception.

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0:00:00 Episode Intro
0:04:23 Donald Hoffman Intro
0:11:05 Our Mind Did Not Evolve for Truth
0:23:04 Vision, Attractiveness & Fitness Payoffs
0:44:38 Split-Brains & Consciousness
0:54:55 Neural Correlates of Consciousness
1:11:43 The Brain's Perception of Space & Time
1:35:50 Language & the Interface Theory of Perception
2:07:20 What Are Psychedelic Experiences?
2:16:07 Final Thoughts