Darren Lorente-Bull

Donald Hoffman, a cognitive scientist from the University of California, states that our perceptions are not a direct reflection of the objective world but rather a user interface designed by evolution. In his " Interface Theory of Perception" Hoffman argues that the reality we believe to perceive is not the objective "real" reality but an interface created by our brains to facilitate our existence by simplifying the scope of our perceptions, this is to say, an interface created for practical reasons since, the implication being, pure or total reality - whatever it might be- is impractical and poses in some  unknown  way a direct threat to our survival. Hoffman compares this  interface to a computer desktop, where the icons on the screen represent files and programs but are not the actual files or programs themselves.  It's a bit like Magritte's famous painting "The Treachery  of Images" or, to go straight  to the point, we are back to ...

Jesus said, "Whoever has come to know the world has discovered a carcass, and whoever has discovered a carcass, of that person the world is not worthy." Gospel of Thomas  I have chosen this quote from the famous Gospel of Thomas because it encapsulates the Gnostic perspective on the physical world. That said, many academics today don't refer to the Gospel of Thomas as a Gnostic text since there's no mention of the staple figures that appear in most Gnostic texts: the Demiurge, the Archons, Sophia etc. Furthermore, there is even a reference to "carrying one's cross" which is definitely an Orthodox reference. Still, as David Brakke suggests, the Gospel of Thomas is a sui generis Gnostic text where Christ encourages the reader to seek knowledge that isn't of this world.  Gnosticism isn't pessimistic: it's "realistic" whilst offering some seeds of hope. Everything that can be done on this earth is finite, imperfect and subje...