- [Lex]
What's in your view
is the difference between our perception,
how we think the world is, and reality?
Do you think there's a huge gap there?
We delude ourselves the
whole thing is an illusion
with just everything
about human psychology,
the way we see things and
how things actually are.
In all the things you've
studied, what's your sense?
How big is the gap between reality and--
- Well again, purely speculative,
I think that we will
never know the answer.
We cannot know the answer.
There is no experiment to find
an answer to that question.
Everything we experience
is an event in our brain.
When I look at a cat, I'm not even,
I can't prove that there's a cat there.
All I am experiencing is
the perception of a cat
inside my own brain.
I am only a witness to
the events of my mind.
I think it is very useful to infer
that if I witness the
event of cat in my head
it's because I'm looking at
a cat that is literally there
and has its own feelings and motivations
and should be pet, and given
food and water and love.
I think that's the way
you should live your life.
But whether or not we live in a simulation
I'm a brain in a vat, I don't know.
- [Lex] And do you care?
- Hmm, I don't really...
Well I care, because it's
a fascinating question.
And it's a fantastic way
to get people excited about
all kinds of topics, physics,
psychology, consciousness, philosophy.
But at the end of day, what
would the difference be?
If you...
- [Lex]
The cat needs to be fed
at the end of the day,
otherwise it'll be a dead cat.
- Right, but if it's not even a real cat,
then it's just like a video game cat,
and right, so what's
the difference between
killing a digital cat in the
video game because of neglect,
versus a real cat?
It seems very different
to us psychologically.
I don't really feel bad
about, "All my gosh,
"I forgot to feed my Tamagotchi," right?
But I would feel terrible
if I forgot to feed
my actual cats.
