The Case Against Reality
Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes
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Narrated by:
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Timothy Andrés Pabon
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Written by:
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Donald Hoffman
About this listen
Can we trust our senses to tell us the truth?
Challenging leading scientific theories that claim that our senses report back objective reality, cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman argues that while we should take our perceptions seriously, we should not take them literally. How can it be possible that the world we see is not objective reality? And how can our senses be useful if they are not communicating the truth? Hoffman grapples with these questions and more over the course of this eye-opening work.
Ever since Homo sapiens has walked the earth, natural selection has favored perception that hides the truth and guides us toward useful action, shaping our senses to keep us alive and reproducing. We observe a speeding car and do not walk in front of it; we see mold growing on bread and do not eat it. These impressions, though, are not objective reality. Just like a file icon on a desktop screen is a useful symbol rather than a genuine representation of what a computer file looks like, the objects we see every day are merely icons, allowing us to navigate the world safely and with ease.
The real-world implications for this discovery are huge. From examining why fashion designers create clothes that give the illusion of a more “attractive” body shape to studying how companies use color to elicit specific emotions in consumers, and even dismantling the very notion that spacetime is objective reality, The Case Against Reality dares us to question everything we thought we knew about the world we see.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2019 by Donald Hoffman. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.You may also enjoy...
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What listeners say about The Case Against Reality
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Tom
- 2021-05-19
don't blink
starts with the fact that our idea of the world is gleaned not directly, but something we construct from limited information. he then claims that once we stop observation the thing disappears. little side theory about evolution. kind of a fun lite theory, but I guess I coded my eyes for a second and all disappeared
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- Michael Malo
- 2019-11-03
Going to buy the paper copy to study more
amazing. absolutely fascinating. Hoffman is honest and rigorous. this has the makings of being as big a deal as when discovered earth is not the center of the universe. part scientific paper, part pop-sci
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1 person found this helpful
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- Book Worm 73
- 2024-06-08
Though Providing
The Case Against Reality presents an intriguing and thought-provoking perspective to our common view of reality. Hoffman argues that our perception of the world is shaped by evolution and that the reality we perceive is not necessarily the true nature of the world. While the book offers fascinating insights into the limitations of our senses and the nature of perception, I found it a little repetitive (though I find many scientific authors like to give a perspective and then tell you 10 more times).
Hoffman's arguments are rooted in cognitive science and evolutionary biology, while the ideas are compelling and interesting, much of it I’ve already heard in podcasts and YouTube videos.
If you’re interested in the subject then this is one of the better books I’ve read about the nature of reality.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Michael Amasio
- 2021-03-26
Great concept. Horrible execution.
Hoffman's argument is important. It lends strength to wonder and questions firmly entrenched concepts in our current psychology.
However, his writing is bland, dry, and obnoxious. It has all the charisma of a wet rag.
Timothy's articulate reading style only compounds the displeasure to the ear.
5 stars because I want concepts like this to proliferate our world so a larger population may take this framework and elaborate in a more eloquent and digestible format.
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Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 2019-12-27
Accompanying PDF?
It's missing from the audiobook and detracting a great deal from the content since there is a lot of reference to graphs in the book.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Qme
- 2019-10-22
Wants to prove 'The Matrix' is true.
I dont knkw where the idea for the book came from but my guess is the matrix hugely contributed to it. The main basis from which the whole argument is based on is Darwin's theory of evolution. Of course I'm simplifying but this is what it is. Anyone who has knowledge of Darwin's theory and knowledge of epigenetics will very quickly spot the holes in the argument. However a good listen that may raise some questions. Without questions there's no answer, so may be good for that purpose.
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- Bjoern Werner
- 2019-12-04
The life line of science to a understanding of god
Just when it looked like science is dead and nothing but a tool in the toolbox. Along comes Donald Hoffman and takes on the most important questions that only Religion had answers to.
Watch out Religion what will you do when science finds the soul or even god?
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- Brian
- 2023-06-11
Better if.
First any book no matter ur voice should be read by the author. No one can read and display authentic understanding and transfer the information better than the one who came up with it. Would also be better if u left the technical ending out. All that math made it boring at the end. Rather than that an ending with speculations and ur best guesses would be more interesting. After all we all have a guess but we want to know what is the other persons guess about reality.
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- Fausto
- 2020-04-28
boring
I had trouble listening to the person reading. He sounded like a kindergarten teacher or Sunday school teacher.
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