rick says-- I'll be reviewing my 2025 collection of afterlife "evidence", "reasoning", that was intenstified due to Dorothy's "graduation" into the "quantum realm"... and one of those review involves Donald Hoffman. Here's a blurb I created with GG-GoogleGemini-AI on this guy. I like the LINGO.. the phrases... the interpretion of phenomena. The brain is an interface that a "conscious agent" uses with a broader network---> Wake up Cryos!
Wake up Cryos!
Cryonics occupied my survival strategy for decades but due to relatively irrelevent-to-crryonics-qua-cryonics considerations, i.e. the supporting elements to my proximity to the Alcor cryonics lab in Phoenix, as well as continued badgering by cryonicists themselves...on my original and fantastic network54 forums, the cryos themselves a mean-spirited bunch, espeically the big-money guys who took their moeny off the table after they died-- via perp trusts or 'dead hand trusts' rather than build cryonics-centers-of-operations (laughtlin, kent, pizer/plus-with-no-ac...I quit. Then in 2022, 10 years later, I discovered-for-me the 2017 quantum physics guy Doug Matzke, who reminded me of my used-book-store oddity Design for Destiny-- and rediscovered quantum-woo-woo as a valid re-approach to the whole problem of what is popularly called "death"-- which is actually nothing but a "discontinuity".
What is Donald Hoffman's theory on the afterlife, as a physicist?
Donald Hoffman is not a physicist but a cognitive psychologist specializing in visual perception and consciousness. He doesn't have a definitive, explicit "theory on the afterlife" in the traditional sense. However, his work on conscious realism has implications that some people interpret as suggesting possibilities beyond physical death.
Here's a breakdown of his ideas and how they might relate to the concept of an afterlife:
* **Conscious Realism:** Hoffman's central theory is Conscious Realism. He argues that objective reality as we perceive it—space, time, physical objects—is not fundamental. Instead, these are just user interfaces, like icons on a desktop, that evolution has shaped to allow us to survive and reproduce. The real fundamental reality, according to him, is a network of interacting "conscious agents."
* **Implications for Death:** If conscious realism is correct, the death of a physical body does not necessarily mean the end of consciousness. The body is just one particular interface a conscious agent uses within the broader network. When that interface is destroyed, the agent might continue to exist and interact within the network in some other way.
* **No Direct Claim of Afterlife:** Hoffman does *not* claim to know what happens after death, nor does he propose a specific afterlife scenario. He acknowledges that we currently have no scientific way to investigate what, if anything, happens to consciousness after physical death.
* **Potential for Continued Experience:** Some interpret Hoffman's ideas as suggesting that consciousness could potentially continue in the network of conscious agents after the body's death. It might involve merging with other agents, taking on new forms of experience, or something completely beyond our current comprehension.
* **Emphasis on Consciousness:** The key takeaway is that Hoffman's framework puts consciousness at the fundamental level of reality. If consciousness is primary, then physical death might not be the absolute end that a purely materialistic view would suggest.
**Important Considerations:**
* **Speculation:** It is vital to emphasize that any interpretation of Hoffman's work as related to the afterlife is largely speculative. He provides a framework for understanding reality that allows for the possibility of continued consciousness, but he doesn't offer concrete answers.
* **Open Questions:** Conscious realism is a controversial theory, and many scientists disagree with it. Whether the fundamental reality is as Hoffman describes is an open and hotly debated question.
* **Difference from Traditional Beliefs:** Hoffman's ideas are distinct from traditional religious or spiritual beliefs about the afterlife. They stem from his research into perception, evolution, and consciousness, rather than faith or metaphysical claims.
In summary, Donald Hoffman doesn't have a specific theory on the afterlife. However, his theory of conscious realism, which posits that consciousness is fundamental and that physical reality is just a user interface, opens up the possibility that consciousness might continue in some form after physical death. It is a speculative interpretation, not a definitive answer.
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