Get every episode summarized
Each time The Next Big Idea publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
About this episode
What you see is what you get, right? Nope. In his mind-bending new book, "The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes," Don Hoffman argues that what we see, smell, touch, and taste are illusions. Reality, he says, is just an interface, like a computer desktop, built by our brains to conceal complexity. Hoffman offers us the red pill and invites us into "The Matrix" — the surreal, flickering, unreliable "real" world.
Get every episode summarized
Each time The Next Big Idea publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from The Next Big Idea
Angela Duckworth Now Thinks "Grit" Wasn't the Whole Story
The Next Big Idea
Sep 28, 20261:10:27completed
AI Has Gone Rogue. Here’s What We Should Do About It.
The Next Big Idea
Sep 24, 202657:59queued
You Don't Have Free Will. That's Good News. (NBI Vault)
The Next Big Idea
Sep 21, 20261:07:15queued
The Art of Fighting
The Next Big Idea
Sep 17, 20261:07:08completed