All topics / perception
Topic
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Perception
2
episodes
2
thinkers
6h
of conversation
10
books & papers
5
terms defined
The neighbourhood: perception and the ideas it travels with. Drag to roam, click a star for the episode, click a neighbour to travel.
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The lexicon
Every term the guests lean on, in plain language. Read one in full, or filter to find it.
What the corpus says
The throughline across every conversation that touches this idea.
Donald Hoffman argues that evolution shapes perceptions for fitness, not truth, suggesting our sensory experiences are adaptive fictions.
Donald Hoffman · Donald Hoffman: Reality is an Illusion - How Evolution Hid the Truth
Hoffman claims that space-time is 'doomed' at scales smaller than 10^-33 centimeters and 10^-43 seconds, challenging its fundamental status.
Donald Hoffman · Donald Hoffman: Reality is an Illusion - How Evolution Hid the Truth
The Park-Taylor formula drastically simplifies quantum computations, revealing deeper symmetries beyond traditional space-time frameworks.
Donald Hoffman · Donald Hoffman: Reality is an Illusion - How Evolution Hid the Truth
Hoffman proposes that consciousness is fundamental, with space and time emerging from networks of conscious agents.
Donald Hoffman · Donald Hoffman: Reality is an Illusion - How Evolution Hid the Truth
Hoffman critiques physicalist theories of consciousness, arguing they fail to explain specific conscious experiences like the taste of chocolate.
Donald Hoffman · Donald Hoffman: Reality is an Illusion - How Evolution Hid the Truth
Joscha Bach argues that consciousness is a control model for attention, likening it to a 'monkey on top of an elephant.'
Bach describes free will as a construct, suggesting that decision-making processes are deterministic but appear indeterministic due to complexity.
He claims that psychedelics induce states similar to lucid dreaming by altering mental connections, impacting perception and cognition.
Bach critiques the politicization of AI ethics, advocating for a deep statistical approach to decision-making in this field.
He suggests that the US healthcare system's inefficiencies stem from misaligned incentives rather than malevolence.
Voices on perception
3 standout quotes from across the corpus.
Go read
10 books and papers cited across these episodes.
For the specialist
What experts find new
6 expert-level takeaways for a specialist reader.
At the frontier
Still unresolved
4 open questions flagged across these conversations.
The thinkers
Who takes this idea on, by how often they return to it.
