The Interface Theory of Perception

Abstract

Our perceptual systems are products of evolution and have been shaped, in part, by natural selection. It is widely assumed that natural selection favors veridical perceptions-that is, perceptions that accurately describe aspects of the objective world relevant to fitness. This assumption has been tested using the mathematics of evolutionary game theory. It is false. Monte Carlo simulations reveal that veridical perceptions are never more fit, and generically are less fit, than nonveridical perceptions of equal complexity that are tuned to fitness. Veridical perceptions go extinct, and their extinction rate increases as complexity increases. These results motivate a new theory of perceptual systems-as species-specific interfaces shaped by natural selection to hide objective reality and guide adaptive behavior. For Homo sapiens, space-time is the desktop of the interface and physical objects are icons on the desktop. The shapes and colors of physical objects no more resemble objective reality than the shapes and colors of desktop icons resemble files in a computer.

Perceiving the World Through Group-Colored Glasses: A Perceptual Model of Intergroup Relations

“…To the extent that perceptual inputs are afforded social value by way of social group affiliations and identities, people should perceive these stimuli differently. These biased representations of the world are more than mere perceptual errors; rather, they are evolved adaptive biases that are beneficial to survival (Haselton & Buss, 2000;D. D. Hoffman, Singh, & Prakash, 2015;Gwynne & Rentz, 1983).…”

Rationality, Perception, and the All-Seeing Eye

“…A powerful way of thinking about perception (and objects or environments) is as a species-specific user interface (Hoffman, 2009;Hoffman et al, 2015;Koenderink, 2011Koenderink, , 2015. What organisms, humans included, perceive is not the actual nature of things.…”

“…This argument is that perception does not track capital-T truth or beliefs in the world, but that perception tracks usefulness and that by doing so leads to fitness and improved performance for organisms and species. But focusing on usefulness, instead of truth, is fundamentally in violation of the underlying assumptions and foundation of Bayesian approaches to perception and vision (Hoffman & Singh, 2012;Hoffman et al, 2015).…”

“…Extant work raises fundamental questions about whether perception indeed tracks truth (or Bveridicality^) in the ways of an ideal observer (e.g., Hoffman et al, 2015). For example, evolutionary fitness maps more closely onto practical usefulness rather than any idea of truth or objectivity.…”

Are icons sense data?

“…Sense datum theory As Hoffman, Singh, and Prakash (2014) (1999, 6) Like Hoffman, Singh, and Prakash (hereafter, HSP), we are quite skeptical of that claim. First, if nonveridical perception confers greater reproductive success on members of a population P than veridical perception does, then the former will proliferate in P. Second, we think that the evolutionary game simulations HSP discuss provide reason to believe that nonveridical perception is better tuned to fitness than veridical perception, at least under certain circumstances.…”