Donald Hoffman

Professor Emeritus of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. Research: Visual perception, evolutionary psychology, consciousness, AI.

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

@anilkseth 😊 Glad to see you are recovering well, Anil! 🙏🏽

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

Physicalist theories have not yet explained even one specific conscious experience. Why do they all fail?

I look forward to be in New Jersey on Oct. 3 for a public interview and Q&A on consciousness, AI, and reality beyond spacetime.

Tickets are limited
https://t.co/BbwWgJdGof

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

It was a pleasure to talk with Crystal on SoulPod about why consciousness has stumped scientists for decades, and why spacetime is like a multiplayer VR headset created by conscious observers.

https://t.co/ZkeAXppmJV

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

“Ivette Fuentes discusses Roger Penrose's quantum theory of consciousness while arguing that solving the mystery of consciousness may require a profound revolution in physics itself.”

https://t.co/AWSmZe63Bq

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

What is consciousness? Does it arise from physical systems in spacetime, or do spacetime and physical systems arise from it? Can AI be conscious? Should moral constraints govern our interactions with AI? I discuss these questions with Sophia Aryan

https://t.co/iMyKflAC6g

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

“But if dreams teach us anything, it may be that the observer will not be found by science as another object in the world. It may only be recognized through the experience of being aware.”

https://t.co/7GMwFx6dtB

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

Are DMT entities real?

Andrew Gallimore and I propose a testable scientific hypothesis: DMT may alter our spacetime headset, letting us see conscious agents that are invisible in normal consensus reality.

See our conversation at the Trace Institute:

https://t.co/lf3QbAcM44

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

““Dr. Andrew Gallimore returns to the mind meld to explore his new collaboration with cognitive scientist, Donald Hoffman ... a mind-bending synthesis of altered states research, conscious agents” and mathematics.

https://t.co/cHKaK5nlBA

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

@NuiMrme In the set of all all irreducible finite Markov chains on n states, the cyclic Markov chain on n states is fastest to visit all states: it has the smallest cover time.

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

It was a pleasure to talk with Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly to explore what neuroscience, evolutionary game theory, virtual reality, psychedelics, observers, and consciousness suggest about the nature of reality itself.

https://t.co/VZFEw1A3WS

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

@LostAncientTech @alieninsect Wish I could. Long covid damaged my heart, making it unsafe to try.

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

It was a pleasure to talk with Lewis Howes about how spacetime is a simple headset created by consciousness, and how physical objects in spacetime, such as brains and bodies, are simply icons in that headset—rendered as needed and then deleted.

https://t.co/SZ4K0x9xeh

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

“major discoveries often start with a hunch that is later tested against evidence. Chen puts it well: Maybe we can be grounded in both feeling and fact.”

https://t.co/nWNLHWFAcc

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

“DMT seems to shake the very foundations of reality.”

“Extended DMT trips could help scientists probe a new theory of reality that puts consciousness first”.

https://t.co/9LszaZoTRI

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

“About 45 percent of people who smoke a sufficient dose of DMT report ... they are no longer alone. They describe a tunnel, a portal, sometimes a kind of waiting room, and then the beings. Machine elves, insectoid creatures, jesters, deities…”

https://t.co/aFOHeNsj5l

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

Jesse asks if I believe in God.

https://t.co/CSpSMcIgG9

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

Andrew Gallimore and I will discuss consciousness, DMT, perception, and the nature of reality, live in Los Angeles on June 13.

Space is limited. Attendance requires approval, but you can request to join here:
 https://t.co/4L3b4IaiEi

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

“physicists are learning that the two defining features of quantum mechanics, entanglement and magic, correspond to the two defining features of space, its shape and its flexibility.”

https://t.co/TSgJdhX5zd

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

Encounters with entities under DMT may be hallucinations. But Andrew Gallimore and I ask: Could DMT alter the human perceptual interface, allowing encounters with novel conscious agents?

New collaboration with Andrew Gallimore and Noonautics
https://t.co/F05v6kuBdo

[Donald Hoffman @donalddhoffman]

I’m pleased to share that we’ve launched the TRACE Institute.

A new research effort bringing together physicists, mathematicians, biologists, neuroscientists, and philosophers on a key question in science: what are observers, and how are they related to spacetime and reality?