Top Psychologist & Scientist (Donald Hoffman): Science Has the Answer to Why Seeing True Reality Would Kill You!

The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

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Thursday, 31 July 2025 - 2 hours 5 minutes

WARNING: Nothing you see is real, and your brain evolved to hide the truth?! Top psychologist Donald Hoffman reveals the mathematical proof we’re living in a virtual illusion, how space-time is just a headset, and why consciousness is the real code.

Donald Hoffman is an award-winning cognitive scientist and professor at the University of California, Irvine. He is best known for his groundbreaking research into perception and consciousness, and is also the author of the book ‘The Case Against Reality’. 

He explains: 

• Why seeing true reality would kill us

• How evolution hides reality to help us survive

• What’s really behind the space-time illusion

• How your brain acts like a VR headset

• How consciousness builds the universe 

• Why space, gravity, and nuclear forces don’t actually fit together

  
  

00:00 Intro  

02:30 Do We Understand What We're Seeing?  

02:35 Rhonda's Mission, Drive, and the Problems She Wants to Solve  

03:03 Space-Time  

05:39 Are We in a Virtual Reality World?  

07:50 Darwin’s Theory Suggests Our World Isn’t Real  

13:06 What Would Reality Be Without Our Senses?  

18:07 Simulations That Prove This Isn’t Real  

23:28 What This Means for Living a Better Life  

33:43 Understand Who You Are  

38:24 Simulation Theories  

43:18 What’s the Meaning of Life in This Reality?  

44:56 Did Someone or Something Create Consciousness?  

46:59 Where Does God Fit in This Reality?  

48:24 Was Jesus Divine Beyond Any of Us?  

52:56 Near-Death Experience and What Happens When We Die  

01:02:05 Grief and Love  

01:05:14 Light and Tunnel in Near-Death Experiences  

01:07:25 Why Do We Suffer?  

01:18:49 What Is Your Theory of Consciousness Proving?  

01:24:55 Biggest Discovery: We Can Engineer Time  

01:28:59 The Consequences of Your Findings  

01:38:26 Mental Health and Illusions  

01:45:36 How This Reality Helps You Deal with Life  

01:52:24 The Nature of Reality and AI  

01:57:54 What Would You Do If You Knew You Could Not Fail? 

Follow Professor Donald:

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UC Irvine - https://bit.ly/3ITwVFC 

You can purchase Professor Donald’s book, ‘The Case Against Reality’, here: https://amzn.to/4ocB7k3 

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