The Case Against Reality: How Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes

Read it as an audiobook years ago after seeing Hoffman’s TED talk. Bought this paper copy later so I could take notes and use it to write my philosophy dissertation. Very intriguing ideas laid out clearly. Fun and engaging read, not too dense. Highly recommend

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The book arrived with the edges completely bent. I send it back and it arrived again in the same status

Albert Einstein famously said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” The only things I have managed to glean from the negative reviews of this book are : 1. many were admittedly written by people who didn’t even bother to get past the first chapter(s), and 2. that many readers simply have forgotten Einstein’s aforementioned maxim.To think outside of the box is what led to many of our greatest scientific discoveries. To re-imagine the ideas of others before you in novel ways is the very ethos of scientific thought! So many negative reviewers of this book bring their own bias and simply want confirmation of what they already think is true, or want some new scientific insight that makes sense to their intuitions. If there’s any lesson to be drawn from our most recent scientific discoveries, it is that they all seem counter-intuitive! Evolution works blindly to increase the chance of the respective organism passing on its genetic information. It does not equip even us with the ability to grasp the fundamental realities of existence because it is useless to its main objective, this is a primary reason why so many of our recent discoveries don’t square with our “common sense” way of viewing the world around us.Does Hoffman build on the work of a host of scientists and philosophers before him? ABSOLUTELY. Which scientist doesn’t? Which philosopher doesn’t? I’m reminded here of Alfred N Whitehead’s infamous quote that all European philosophy is simply a footnote to Plato. There is plenty drawn from others in (among other disciplines) evolutionary psychology, natural selection, neuroscience, quantum physics, subsets of AI research, and even a non-theistic version of 18th cent Irish philosopher George Berkeley’s theories, (sorry there is nothing Solipsistic in this work as some reader’s seem eager to conflate), but the erudite manner in which Hoffman proceeds with his multidisciplinary work is engaging, thrilling, and indeed original.While you may not draw the same conclusions as he does by his final chapter (almost solely focused on consciousness - which even the leading scientists working on consciousness admit they still don’t understand!), the journey to get to this destination is an absolute joy, and as non-intuitive as it feels sometimes, his argument is concise, clear, and profound. As someone who reads almost exclusively popular science books, “The Case Against Reality” is on the short list of the genre’s absolute best for its abundance of thought-provoking ideas. (This despite my reservations about Hoffman’s final conclusion, which to his credit he admits needs further research and attention)My biggest critique : placing the quote from Deepak Chopra on the back cover praising the book is the biggest disservice the publisher did: yes it will help sell copies, but Deepak’s new age pseudo-science is a far cry from Hoffman’s accomplishments here.In summary, if you are the type of person that relishes the journey more than the destination, this is a must read. Like all great works, you may not agree with it, but it will leave you thinking about its contents long after you’ve finished the final pages.