Dr. Donald Hoffman (Part 2) - The Brain is Fiction and Natural Selection Has Hidden the Truth of Reality

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 agentsHow you can manipulate the visual cortex and movement perception with magnetsEach 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. 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