Recorded April 28, 2025
Broadcast May 11, 2025
To read a transcript of this episode, click here.
We have all had someone ask us whether we think reality is a dream. Movies, art, literature, all remind us that it’s hard to distinguish reality from our imagination. But what if we take this further and ask whether we are in someone else’s virtual world? What if the thing we call the universe is actually a copy of a whole different universe that we know nothing about? What if our very consciousness is someone else’s programming? What if we are all characters in a simulation?
David Chalmers is a University Professor of Philosophy and Neural Science and co-director of the Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness, at New York University. He is the author and editor of numerous books, most recently Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy.
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