SHORTLISTED FOR THE PHYSICS WORLD BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019One of the deepest and most original thinkers of his generation of cognitive scientists. His startling argument has implications for philosophy science and how we understand the world around us Steven Pinker Is reality virtual Its a question made even more interesting by this book Barbara Kiser Nature Do we see the world as it truly is In The Case Against Reality pioneering cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman says no we see what we need in order to survive. Our visual perceptions are not a window onto reality Hoffman shows us but instead are interfaces constructed by natural selection. The objects we see around us are not unlike the file icons on our computer desktops while shaped like a small folder on our screens the files themselves are made of a series of ones and zeros too complex for most of us to understand. In a similar way Hoffman argues evolution has shaped our perceptions into simplistic illusions to help us navigate the world around us. Yet now these illusions can be manipulated by advertising and design.Drawing on thirty years of Hoffmans own influential research as well as evolutionary biology game theory neuroscience and philosophy The Case Against Reality makes the mindbending yet utterly convincing case that the world is nothing like what we see through our eyes.