full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Donald Hoffman: Do we see reality as it is?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Well, I hate to break it to you, but perception of reality goes extinct. In almost every satimlouin, organisms that see none of reality but are just tuned to fitness drive to extinction all the oamngisrs that perceive reality as it is. So the bottom line is, evolution does not favor veridical, or accurate perceptions. Those perceptions of reality go extinct.

Now, this is a bit stunning. How can it be that not seeing the world arceluatcy gives us a survival advantage? That is a bit counterintuitive. But remember the jweel beetle. The jewel beetle survived for thousands, perhaps millions of yaers, using simple tricks and hacks. What the euitonqas of euvlitoon are telling us is that all organisms, including us, are in the same boat as the jewel beetle. We do not see reality as it is. We're shaped with tickrs and hacks that keep us alive.

Open Cloze


Well, I hate to break it to you, but perception of reality goes extinct. In almost every __________, organisms that see none of reality but are just tuned to fitness drive to extinction all the _________ that perceive reality as it is. So the bottom line is, evolution does not favor veridical, or accurate perceptions. Those perceptions of reality go extinct.

Now, this is a bit stunning. How can it be that not seeing the world __________ gives us a survival advantage? That is a bit counterintuitive. But remember the _____ beetle. The jewel beetle survived for thousands, perhaps millions of _____, using simple tricks and hacks. What the _________ of _________ are telling us is that all organisms, including us, are in the same boat as the jewel beetle. We do not see reality as it is. We're shaped with ______ and hacks that keep us alive.

Solution


  1. jewel
  2. simulation
  3. years
  4. tricks
  5. evolution
  6. equations
  7. accurately
  8. organisms

Original Text


Well, I hate to break it to you, but perception of reality goes extinct. In almost every simulation, organisms that see none of reality but are just tuned to fitness drive to extinction all the organisms that perceive reality as it is. So the bottom line is, evolution does not favor veridical, or accurate perceptions. Those perceptions of reality go extinct.

Now, this is a bit stunning. How can it be that not seeing the world accurately gives us a survival advantage? That is a bit counterintuitive. But remember the jewel beetle. The jewel beetle survived for thousands, perhaps millions of years, using simple tricks and hacks. What the equations of evolution are telling us is that all organisms, including us, are in the same boat as the jewel beetle. We do not see reality as it is. We're shaped with tricks and hacks that keep us alive.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
red tomato 6
jewel beetle 5
conscious experiences 4
physical objects 4
unmoving center 3
brain activity 2
false assumption 2
glowing blue 2
blue bars 2
sharp edges 2
accurate perceptions 2
evolutionary game 2
game simulations 2
blue icon 2
text file 2
adaptive behavior 2
behavior space 2
desktop physical 2
perceptual experience 2
selection pressures 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
glowing blue bars 2
evolutionary game simulations 2
adaptive behavior space 2
desktop physical objects 2

Important Words


  1. accurate
  2. accurately
  3. advantage
  4. alive
  5. beetle
  6. bit
  7. boat
  8. bottom
  9. break
  10. counterintuitive
  11. drive
  12. equations
  13. evolution
  14. extinct
  15. extinction
  16. favor
  17. fitness
  18. hacks
  19. hate
  20. including
  21. jewel
  22. line
  23. millions
  24. organisms
  25. perceive
  26. perception
  27. perceptions
  28. reality
  29. remember
  30. shaped
  31. simple
  32. simulation
  33. stunning
  34. survival
  35. survived
  36. telling
  37. thousands
  38. tricks
  39. tuned
  40. veridical
  41. world
  42. years