Donald Hoffman received a Ph.D. from MIT and is a Professor of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. He is an author of over 120 scientific papers and three books, including The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes. He received a Distinguished Scientific Award of the American Psychological Association for early career research, the Rustum Roy Award of The Chopra Foundation, and the Troland Research Award of the US National Academy of Sciences. His writing has appeared in Scientific American, New Scientist, LA Review of Books, and Edge, and his work has been featured in Wired, Quanta, The Atlantic, Ars Technica, National Public Radio, Discover Magazine, and Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. He has a TED Talk titled “Do we see reality as it is?”

Website

Other book: Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.

Summary and Transcript of this interview.

Interview recorded May 9, 2020

YouTube Video Chapters:

00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump with Donald Hoffman

00:04:52 - Meditation as an Exploration

00:09:08 - The Process of Transformation and the Endless Exploration

00:13:08 - Safety First

00:17:22 - The Illusion of Space-Time

00:22:25 - The Limitations of Space-Time and Measurement

00:26:32 - The Observer and the Observed

00:31:40 - The Oneness of Ultimate Reality

00:36:35 - The Illusion of Objective Reality

00:41:47 - Humility and Precision in Science and Spirituality

00:46:03 - Challenging Dogmatism & the Split between Science and Spirituality

00:50:57 - Rethinking Reductionism and Fundamental Reality

00:55:56 - The Role of Science and Reason in Spiritual Exploration

01:01:03 - The Humility of Scientific Spirituality

01:05:36 - Godel's Candy Store Theory of Consciousness

01:10:03 - The Dynamics of Consciousness

01:14:07 - The Nature of Scientific Progress

01:19:03 - The Science Game and Precision in Spiritual Experiences

01:23:23 - Exploring Consciousness beyond Space-Time

01:27:33 - The Fundamental Dynamical Principle of Consciousness

01:31:38 - The Fictions of Space-Time and Extraordinary Experiences

01:35:20 - Consciousness as Fundamental

01:39:32 - The Evidence for Consciousness as Fundamental

01:43:21 - The Dance Between Precision and No-Concepts

01:47:08 - The Importance of Avoiding Sloppy Thinking

01:51:20 - The Conscious Agent and Unity Consciousness

01:55:58 - The Nature of Consciousness and Emotions

02:00:16 - The Infinite Nature of Consciousness and Godel's Theorem

02:04:41 - Exploring Infinite Possibilities within the Source

02:08:20 - The Playfulness of Exploration

02:11:29 - Consciousness as Fundamental