The Case Against Reality

Donald D. Hoffman

ISBN 10: 0141983418 / ISBN 13: 9780141983417

Published by Penguin Press, 2020

About this Item

Anmerkungen / beschriftet / Stempel; Leichte Verschmutzung / Farbtonveränderung. Do we see the world as it truly is? Cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman says no: our visual perceptions are not a window on reality, but are interfaces constructed by natural selection. 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.

Seller Inventory # e5c22610-64e9-4cbb-975f-cae6946f918b

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Case Against Reality
• Publisher: Penguin Press
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0141983418
• ISBN 13: 9780141983417
• Binding: Softcover
• Condition: Fair

About this title

Synopsis

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.