Dr. Donald Hoffman has proposed a rigorous mathematical model of consciousness that leaves materialism out of the equation.

photo by: Skeptiko

I have an interview coming up in a minute with Dr. Donald Hoffman, who is, well, he’s a really, really smart University of California Irvine professor, known for his work in consciousness and known for being the first guy to propose a truly rigorous mathematical model for understanding consciousness.  Here’s a clip.

Alex Tsakiris: [00:00:26]  Are we  preparing for another version of shut up and calculate?

Dr. Donald Hoffman: [00:00:32] So one reason why scientists do mathematical theories is because they surprise us, they become smarter than us, and eventually we become the students of the theory.

I do agree that consciousness is the fundamental reality and that it transcends any of our theories and getting a direct connection with that conscious experience is very, very important. I actually spend time every day in meditation doing exactly that.

Alex Tsakiris: [00:01:02] And stick around after the interview for some analysis with me and Dr. Rich Grego:

Dr. Rich Grego: [00:01:07] Everybody has their metaphysical interpretation of the math and they have math that backs up their interpretation, but the math isn’t the interpretation.

 

Click here for Forum Discussion 

Click here for Dr. Donald Hoffman’s Website    

Alex Tsakiris: [00:01:21] Welcome to Skeptiko where we explore controversial science and spirituality with leading researchers, thinkers, and their critics.

I’m your host Alex Tsakiris and as you know, we spend a lot of time talking about consciousness on Skeptiko, but as you also know, if you bring this topic up with most people in your life, you get at best a blank stare and more likely, kind of a slow nodding of the head as they look for a way to get out of the room.

So I think that’s what makes it even more amazing that today’s guest, bestselling author and highly regarded University of California Irvine professor, Dr. Donald Hoffman, has been able to break through; The apathy in confusion over the mind/body problem, evolutionary psychology, and what we typically talk about as the hard problem of consciousness. He’s done that through, what is now kind of a, in our field, a famous TED Talk that’s received over 2.7 billion views and is titled, Do We See Reality As It Is?

That is quite a remarkable talk, if you haven’t heard it before, it not only shatters the existing brain centric neuroscience model of consciousness, but more importantly, offers a new testable theory to replace it. A theory that is spelled out in his excellent and bestselling book that we’re going to talk about today, The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes.

So Don, it’s really great to have you here. Thanks so much for joining me on Skeptiko.

Dr. Donald Hoffman: [00:03:13] Thank you, Alex, thanks for inviting me.

Alex Tsakiris: [00:03:15] Well as I mentioned, you know, there’s this TED Talk that is out there, that is really quite amazing, and I think a lot of people have seen, and there’s also this book.