In a reality where spacetime is not fundamental, physical objects like neurons are merely "rendered" upon observation. Therefore, neurons cannot be the fundamental creator of consciousness because they don't exist independently until an observer interacts with them.

Hoffman's theory posits that our perceived world is not a persistent, objective reality but a simulation that is rendered only when an observer looks at it. According to this model, when you look away from an object, it ceases to exist and is only re-rendered upon observation.

Our experience of the world is a constructed user interface, not objective reality. Like a desktop folder icon that represents complex code, our senses translate raw data (e.g., photons) into simplified, useful concepts for survival. What we perceive is a helpful abstraction, not the underlying truth of the physical world.

Contrary to mainstream neuroscience, the brain is not the source of consciousness but a construct within our perceptual headset, created by consciousness. Neurons, like objects in a video game, are rendered only when observed and have no causal power over our thoughts or behavior.

With 10x more neurons going to the eye than from it, the brain actively predicts reality and uses sensory input primarily to correct errors. This explains phantom sensations, like feeling a stair that isn't there, where the brain's simulation briefly overrides sensory fact.

The persistence of objects and shared experiences doesn't prove an objective reality exists. Instead, it suggests a deeper system, analogous to a game server in a multiplayer game, coordinates what each individual observer renders in their personal perceptual "headset," creating a coherent, shared world.

The universe is not "locally real," meaning objects exist as probabilities until observed. This mirrors video game engines that only render objects in a player's view to conserve computational resources, suggesting our reality is similarly efficient.

The Nobel Prize-winning discovery that the universe is not locally real suggests it operates like a video game engine, rendering reality only when an interaction or measurement occurs. This principle of computational efficiency, along with the universe having a minimum pixel size (Planck scale) and tick speed, strongly supports the simulation metaphor for reality.

Extending the simulation theory, cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman argues that your physical components, like neurons, do not exist persistently. They are rendered into existence only in the moment of perception by an observer. If a neuroscientist observes your brain, the neurons exist in their perception, but they were never 'your' neurons in an objective, independent sense.