The Case Against Reality
by Donald Hoffman · first published 2019
33% recommend67% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Argues that perception evolved for fitness rather than accuracy, and that consciousness may be fundamental. It is a fascinating, mind-bending exploration for anyone curious about the nature of reality.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2021–2025Matter with Things
Iain McGilchrist
Recommended by 9 · mentioned by 109 recommend · 10 mention9 recommend · 109 recommend
2009–2026Blindsight
Peter Watts
Recommended by 214 · mentioned by 294214 recommend · 294 mention214 recommend · 294214 recommend
Permutation City
Greg Egan
Recommended by 256 · mentioned by 354256 recommend · 354 mention256 recommend · 354256 recommend
The Last Question
Isaac Asimov
Recommended by 94 · mentioned by 17294 recommend · 172 mention94 recommend · 17294 recommend
2007–2026I Am a Strange Loop
Douglas R. Hofstadter
Recommended by 101 · mentioned by 204101 recommend · 204 mention101 recommend · 204101 recommend
2007–2026Gödel, Escher, Bach
Douglas R. Hofstadter
Recommended by 505 · mentioned by 1,055505 recommend · 1,055 mention505 recommend · 1,055505 recommend
…doing research from the complete opposite side of this problem: what if consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe? He explains this far better than I can (pre-caffeinated) in his book The Case Against Reality[1], which I'd recommend you read if you're interested in this topic (he's also done quite a few interviews which can be found on youtube et al[2]). Perhaps similar to you, I (a materialist) used to have…
on “Philosopher Philip Goff answers questions about panpsychism” ↗Far and away the most interesting theory on this topic for me is from Hoffman. I recent read his fascinating book The Case Against Reality - mind blown pretty much sums up my experience of the book. In short he advocates that consciousness is fundamental and that what we experience as the material world...people, objects, atoms is the product…
on “Thomas Nagel: Thoughts Are Real (2013)” ↗…It’s not hypothetical, is fully possible, and is very much in the scientific arena. Evolutionary game theory, among other tools, has been used to demonstrate that we do not perceive reality. See “The Case Against Reality” by Donald Hoffman.
on “What Is AGI-Hard” ↗In parallel with Darwin also try more recent advancements,like Don Hoffman's "The case against reality", where they prove that the probability that evolution will equip an organism to see the true reality is Zero.
on “A Revolution in Biology?” ↗"The Case Against Reality" by Donald D. Hoffman I can't even ...
on “Ask HN: What book bit, stung and shook you deeply?” ↗Also check out The Case Against Reality by Donald Hoffman
on “Project Genie: Experimenting with infinite, interactive worlds” ↗…substantial cases being made that this is now holding us back in physics, and that we need to consider that consciousness is fundamental, and matter is only a consequence of it. See, for example Hoffman's The Case Against Reality.
on “Ten years after the Higgs, physicists face the nightmare of finding nothing else” ↗…and only break down into odd behavior (where a particle seems to care whether or not you're looking), smells to this programmer like an optimization hack. :) Just started reading Donald Hoffman's "The Case Against Reality", which posits some very bold answers to this question, theorizing that there is no reason to assume that base reality is anything like our perceptions (subjective or scientific), any more than there's…
on “New books mount aggressive but ultimately unpersuasive defenses of multiverses” ↗…empirical measurement does mean it is necessarily absent from reality altogether. For an opposing view to naive materialism which is still firmly nested in rationalist thinking, see Donald Hoffman's "The Case Against Reality": https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-evolutionary-argument-aga...
on “Superdeterminism may help us overcome the current crisis in physics” ↗…of our spacetime interface and its objects, explain the appearance of Darwinian evolution within that interface, and explain the evolutionary emergence of human psychology.” ― Donald D. Hoffman, The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes
on “Consciousness is not computation” ↗…that's far from proof. :) The biological machine simulation theory of consciousness has some rigor behind it. I am reminded of the Making Sense podcast episode #178 with Donald Hoffman (author of The Case Against Reality). More succinct overview: https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-evolutionary-argument-aga... I don't know that I am with him on the "reality is a network of conscious agents" endpoint of this argument.…
on “What Is ChatGPT Doing and Why Does It Work?” ↗…Systems, which has empirical support at least within a prescriptive context if not necessarily a descriptive one [3]. The whole thing is a mess. A great, big, beautiful mess. [1: https://www.amazon.com/Case-Against-Reality-Evolution-Truth/...] [2: https://benjamincongdon.me/blog/2021/02/21/Three-Layers-of-I...]
on “A new proposal for how mind emerges from matter” ↗Donald Hoffman, The Case Against Reality: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HFFr0-ybg0>
on “When Did Nature Burst into Vivid Color?” ↗Right, something along the lines of Donald Hoffman's The Case Against Reality
on “A Growing Number of Scientists Are Convinced the Future Influences the Past” ↗…This positivist approach to science is put in question by many other philosophers, including Karl Popper [3]. [1] https://platosmirror.com/galileo-galilei-measure-what-is-mea... [2] Donald Hoffman, The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes ISBN-13: 978-0393254693, ISBN-10: 0393254690 [3] https://www.sobider.net/FileUpload/ep842424/File/12.two_crit...
on “We've lost our respect for complexity” ↗