How Our Senses Deceive Us

Can we unconditionally trust our senses and what we see? Since Homo sapiens appeared on Earth, natural selection has favored a distorted perception of reality to sustain life and reproduction. How is it possible that the world we see is not the objective reality? We see a speeding car, but we do not run across the road in front of it; we see mold on bread, but we do not eat it. According to the author, all these impressions are not objective reality. The consequences of such perception are enormous: designers sew more pleasing silhouettes, and specific colors are used in advertising campaigns to capture our attention. Only by distorting reality can we easily and safely navigate the world. Donald David Hoffman is an American cognitive psychologist and author of popular science books. He is a professor in the Department of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, combining work in the departments of philosophy and logic. His research in the fields of perception, evolution, and consciousness has received the Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.