What is reality? What is the nature of consciousness? How do we know that what we are experiencing is base reality and not a simulation? These may seem like the kind of questions that you’d associate with modern concepts like The Matrix and simulation theory, but the fact is that every ancient philosophical tradition has wrestled with these problems in some form or another. And with the advent of rich, complex VR worlds and the nascent metaverse, even more philosophers are turning toward these deep questions of consciousness and the human experience. One of the most interesting thinkers in this space is David Chalmers, Professor of Philosophy and Neural Science at New York University, and co-director of the Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness. In his latest book, Reality+: virtual worlds and the problems of philosophy, David investigates not only the nature of reality, but how we should conceptualize virtual reality, the idea that we can actually live a meaningful life in VR, how we know there’s an external world, and much more. We explore these topics and more in today’s wide-ranging conversation, covering everything from the hard problem of consciousness to the probability that we’re actually living in a computer simulation. You don’t have to be a student of philosophy to enjoy today’s conversation - especially if you’re as excited as I am about the possibilities being unlocked by virtual reality and the metaverse. [Original air date: March 8, 2022].And if you want to dive deeper into David’s work, you can order his new book, Reality+, by clicking here: https://amzn.to/3vMSS0v SHOW NOTES: 00:00 | Introduction 01:41 | The Hard Problem of Consciousness 10:42 | Consciousness as a Fundamental Law of Nature 17:38 | The Foundations of Simulation Theory 27:33 | Is Reality Made of Information? 39:03 | How to Live a Meaningful Virtual Life 45:10 | The Philosopher’s Zombie 51:59 | Orderable States of Consciousness 58:23 | Zhuangzi and the Butterfly 1:05:20 | The Experience Machine 1:14:40 | GPT3 and Deepfakes 1:19:08 | The Future of “Technophilosophy”CHECK OUT OUR SPONSORSButcherBox: Get your choice of a free protein in every box for a year, plus that $20 off your first order with code IMPACT at https://butcherbox.com/impact.Tonal: Go to https://tonal.com and get $200 off with promo code IMPACT.Huel: Try Huel with 15% OFF today using code IMPACT at https://huel.com/impact.Miro: Bring your teams to Miro’s revolutionary Innovation Workspace and be faster from idea to outcome at https://miro.com.Design.com: Ready to transform your brand? Head to https://design.com/impacttheory and get up to 88% off.FOLLOW TOM:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tombilyeu/Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tombilyeu?lang=enTwitter: https://twitter.com/tombilyeuYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TomBilyeuWhat's up, everybody? It's Tom Bilyeu here. If you're serious about leveling up your life, I urge you to check out my new podcast, Tom Bilyeu’s Mindset Playbook —a goldmine of my most impactful episodes on mindset, business, and health. Trust me, your future self will thank you.LISTEN AD FREE + BONUS EPISODES on APPLE PODCASTS: apple.co/impacttheory Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices