What exactly is the relationship between evolution and reality? Galileo Galilei claimed that tastes, smells, colors, and so on, reside in the consciousness. If the living creature experiencing these senses was removed, these qualities would not exist. Now, this is a bit similar to the, “if a tree falls in a forest, but no one is there to hear it, did it really make a sound?” question regarding reality.
It is a bit selfish of us to say that something cannot exist if it is not perceived. Millions of phenomena occur around us that we are not aware of without the help of technology. So, therefore, there must be an unobserved world out there that our evolution has not permitted us to experience.
Defining Experienced Reality
Donald Hoffman, a cognitive scientist and professor at the University of California, has a radical view of the divide between evolution and reality. In his viral TedTalk, he discusses his theory which states that species who “see” reality are just as fit as species who don’t (“fit” in relation to “physically fit” in evolution terms). It’s being fitness-tuned, not reality-tuned, that matters. After all, when you come across a snake in the woods, what your brain needs to tell you is to run away, not what the organization of neurons to make the snake is.
Basically, evolution doesn’t care if you objectively perceive reality, it only wants you to survive, and your world is tuned to making that happen to the best of your ability.
Perhaps perceptions, at root level, have nothing to do with fundamental physics and reality, thus forming a broken link between the two. Scientists are sure that there is a world separate from us that evolution doesn’t give us access to (because, I mean, if we have perceived all that there is in the universe, that would be awfully boring), and that our consciousness and interactions shape the reality we experience. Perception is reality, right?
Whether or not Hoffman’s theory is correct, he poses an interesting concept. The universe clearly doesn’t revolve around us, we know that much, but to think that our evolution, our DNA that makes up who we are, could be responsible for the distortion of our reality, is a fantastic concept to try to wrap your mind around. If Darwin were here today, I’d love to ask his opinion on the matter.
“Folks, it’s time to evolve. That’s why we’re troubled. You know why our institutions are failing us, the church, the state, everything’s failing? It’s because, um–they’re no longer relevant. We’re supposed to keep evolving. Evolution did not end with us growing opposable thumbs. You know that, right?”-Bill Hicks
The Brain Vomit 