We are living in a virtual reality!

First written in Apr 7, 2019

Check out this article I found:

The Evolutionary Argument Against Reality
The cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman uses evolutionary game theory to show that our perceptions of an independent reality must be illusions.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-evolutionary-argument-against-reality-20160421/

GEEK ALERT: This article is really informative and definitely ‘scratch your head’ deep! But if you’re hard pressed for time, here’s a nutshell version (and last paragraph of the article in his words):

The formal theory of conscious agents I’ve been developing is computationally universal — in that sense, it’s a machine theory. And it’s because the theory is computationally universal that I can get all of cognitive science and neural networks back out of it. Nevertheless, for now I don’t think we are machines — in part because I distinguish between the mathematical representation and the thing being represented. As a conscious realist, I am postulating conscious experiences as ontological primitives, the most basic ingredients of the world. I’m claiming that experiences are the real coin of the realm. The experiences of everyday life — my real feeling of a headache, my real taste of chocolate — that really is the ultimate nature of reality. (my emphasis)