Reality Is Not As It Seems

Panel Discussion February 7, 2019

Despite remarkable strides across virtually all scientific disciplines, the nature of the relationship between our brain and our conscious experience—the “mind-body problem”—remains perhaps the greatest mystery confronting science today. Most neuroscientists currently believe that neural activity in the brain constitutes the foundation of our reality, and that consciousness emerges from the dynamics of complicated neural networks. Yet no scientific theory to date has been able to explain how the properties of such neurons or neural networks actually translates into our specific conscious experiences.

The prevalent view in cognitive science today is that we construct our perception of reality in real time. But could we be misinterpreting the content of our perceptual experiences? According to some cognitive scientists, what we perceive with our brain and our senses does not reflect the true nature of reality. Thus, while evolution has shaped our perceptions to guide adaptive behavior, they argue, it has not enabled us to perceive reality as it actually is. What are the implications of such a radical finding for our understanding of the mystery of consciousness? And how do we distinguish between “normal” and “abnormal” perceptual experiences?

Cognitive scientist Donald D. Hoffman and neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan join Steve Paulson to discuss the elusive quest to understand the fundamental nature of consciousness, and why our perception of reality is not necessarily what it seems.

Panel

  • Steve Paulson Journalist and Executive Producer, TTBOOK
  • Donald D. Hoffman Professor of Philosophy, CUNY Lehman College
  • Suzanne O’Sullivan Neurologist and Author

Details

  • Thursday, February 7, 2019
  • 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

  • The New York Academy of Sciences
    7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich Street, 40th Floor

Annals

This volume brings together leading scientists and thinkers to explore the fundamental nature of reality through the lens of scientific inquiry and personal experience.

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About This Series

This event is part of the Conversations on the Nature of Reality series, which brings together leading scientists and thinkers to explore the fundamental nature of reality through the lens of scientific inquiry and personal experience.

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Recommended Reads

Highlights

  • The Science of "Infinite Consciousnesses" Feb 07, 2019 02:18 7656
  • Do Our Beliefs Shape Our Perception of Reality? Feb 07, 2019 05:33 4576
  • The "Mirror Test" of Reality Feb 07, 2019 02:44 4894
  • How Reality Gets in the Way of Staying Alive Feb 07, 2019 04:06 1086
  • What Makes the "Hard Problem" of Consciousness So Hard? Feb 07, 2019 03:55 5611
  • Take Physical Objects Seriously, Not Literally Feb 07, 2019 03:25 1101
  • Why the Brain Cannot be Trusted Feb 07, 2019 06:04 3071
  • Why the Brain Does Not Cause Conscious Experience Feb 07, 2019 05:06 75226
  • Space-Time Is Not Our Fundamental Reality Feb 07, 2019 06:15 26234
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