The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes

by Donald D. Hoffman

Fig. 10: The “perceive-decide-act” (PDA) loop. Natural selection shapes this loop so that experiences guide actions that enhance fitness. © DONALD HOFFMAN The PDA loop is shaped by an essential feature of evolution—the fitness-payoff functions. The fitness of an action depends on the state of the world, but also on the organism (the agent) and its state. Each time an agent acts on the world, it changes the state of the world, and reaps a fitness reward (or punishment). Only an agent that acts in ways that reap enough fitness rewards will survive and reproduce. Natural selection favors agents with PDA loops properly tuned to fitness. For such an agent, its “perceive” arrow sends it messages about fitness, and its experiences represent these messages about fitness. The messages and experiences are all about fitness, not about the state of the world. The experiences of the agent become an interface—not perfect, but good enough. It guides actions that glean enough fitness points to survive long enough to rear offspring.

Should be PDC perceive decide change or influence or effect