Name: The Case Against Reality
ISBN: 9780393254693

Donald David Hoffman

A groundbreaking examination of human perception.

Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes

The Case Against Reality

Sven Schmidt

Jesper Henriksen

Donald D. Hoffman

SHORTLISTED FOR THE PHYSICS WORLD BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 'One of the deepest and most original thinkers of his generation of cognitive scientists. His startling argument has implications for philosophy, science, and how we understand the world around us' Steven Pinker 'Is reality virtual? It's a question made even more interesting by this book' Barbara Kiser, Nature Do we see the world as it truly is? In The Case Against Reality, pioneering cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman says no? we see what we need in order to survive. Our visual perceptions are not a window onto reality, Hoffman shows us, but instead are interfaces constructed by natural selection. The objects we see around us are not unlike the file icons on our computer desktops: while shaped like a small folder on our screens, the files themselves are made of a series of ones and zeros - too complex for most of us to understand. In a similar way, Hoffman argues, evolution has shaped our perceptions into simplistic illusions to help us navigate the world around us. Yet now these illusions can be manipulated by advertising and design. Drawing on thirty years of Hoffman's own influential research, as well as evolutionary biology, game theory, neuroscience, and philosophy, The Case Against Reality makes the mind-bending yet utterly convincing case that the world is nothing like what we see through our eyes.

How Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes

Matthew Jackson

Keven Wang

Drew Spartz

Alex Ker

Christopher Wheeler

Do we see the world as it truly is? In The Case Against Reality,cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman says no-our visual perceptions are not a window on reality, but are interfaces constructed by natural selection. Think about it- though the file icon we see on our desktops is shaped like a small page on our screens, the file itself is made of a series of numbers, of ones and zeros stored in an intangible way. Using thirty years of his own research, as well as others' work in evolutionary biology, game theory, neuroscience, computer science, information theory, and philosophy, Hoffman proves that evolution has shaped our perceptions into illusions. The sensory simplifications that once maximized our performance and reproductive fitness are now impressions that can be manipulated by marketing and design. The world is nothing like what we see through our eyes, and The Case Against Reality explains why.

The Case Against Reality Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes

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