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8th out of 21 books
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24 voters
The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World
Selected by The New York Times Book Review as a Notable Book of the Year
A bold and all-embracing exploration of the nature and progress of knowledge from one of today's great thinkers.
Throughout history, mankind has struggled to understand life's mysteries, from the mundane to the seemingly miraculous. In this important new book, David Deutsch, an award-winning pioneer i...more
A bold and all-embracing exploration of the nature and progress of knowledge from one of today's great thinkers.
Throughout history, mankind has struggled to understand life's mysteries, from the mundane to the seemingly miraculous. In this important new book, David Deutsch, an award-winning pioneer i...more
Hardcover, 496 pages
Published
July 21st 2011
by Viking Adult
(first published March 1st 2011)
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Jan 25, 2012
Andy Matuschak
added it
I am not sure that another book has influenced my thinking quite as much as The Beginning of Infinity.
As I read through Deutsch's many provocative assertions, I often reacted with instinctive scorn and disbelief. But with only a few exceptions, I found myself within a few pages not only persuaded but convinced of the utter obviousness of his ideas.
The specific assertions in this book are important not because of the claims they make relevant to that field, but because they are meta-assertions wh...more
As I read through Deutsch's many provocative assertions, I often reacted with instinctive scorn and disbelief. But with only a few exceptions, I found myself within a few pages not only persuaded but convinced of the utter obviousness of his ideas.
The specific assertions in this book are important not because of the claims they make relevant to that field, but because they are meta-assertions wh...more
Summary: Lose, philosophical rambling, plus an insightful take on Many Worlds.
Author's favorite word: parochial
I'm trying to be more positive in my reviews. Here are the good parts:
* Plausible story of the evolution of the technology of numerals.
* Refutation of anthropic reasoning for being a bad explanation.
* Introduction to infinite set theory using the idea of Infinity Hotel.
* Refutation of the Precautionary Principle for being pessimism.
* A clever, made-up tale of Socrates and Hermes on epis...more
Author's favorite word: parochial
I'm trying to be more positive in my reviews. Here are the good parts:
* Plausible story of the evolution of the technology of numerals.
* Refutation of anthropic reasoning for being a bad explanation.
* Introduction to infinite set theory using the idea of Infinity Hotel.
* Refutation of the Precautionary Principle for being pessimism.
* A clever, made-up tale of Socrates and Hermes on epis...more
8 likes · like · see review
I've grown tired of the world I see, so my reading has turned to the larger world that I don't see but that is -- theoretically -- just as real (at least for now). Bobbling between quantum and astro physics, I found my way to David Deutsch's new book, "The Beginning of Infinity" and for a while I loved it. He was a fantastic guide when he was discussing infinity, the universe, the philosophy and evolution of the scientific method, even Darwin -- like having your own personal genius to explain la...more
I finished this book a month ago and at first I wasn't sure what I thought of it. But a month has gone by and I still think about it. In fact I think about it a lot.
Some other reviewer mentioned that his favorite word was "parochial" which made me laugh because it does seem to be true. And I finally had to look it up in the dictionary because he only gave a one sentence definition of "parochial" that I thought was lacking. And by that I mean I didn't understand it. I looked it up online. I wish...more
Some other reviewer mentioned that his favorite word was "parochial" which made me laugh because it does seem to be true. And I finally had to look it up in the dictionary because he only gave a one sentence definition of "parochial" that I thought was lacking. And by that I mean I didn't understand it. I looked it up online. I wish...more
Deutsch’s main idea is that the greatest achievement of humanity are the scientific, social, and artistic explanations (memes) about our world and the universe, which are the result of our creativity and critical thinking that first developed in a significant way during the Enlightenment. One chapter in Infinity explained that the 0-9 numeral system was invented in India 1000 years before anyone realized how it had universality, the ability to represent abstract numbers and infinity. Another cha...more
Positively, this book tries to explain the world with what we know today rather than based on expanding on the celebrated theories supported by great thinkers of other era. As a result, it is modern, novel and rational for readers with latest knowledge. The book contains many interesting scientific and mathematical explanations. Some of the messages are strong and driven home effectively. The criticism’s of some of the past theories are also strong with desired results.
That said, the book conta...more
That said, the book conta...more
While I was, admittedly, turned off by the cover [worth mentioning here only because this book touches on a universal aesthetic], the ideas and perspectives offered in this book are incredible.
Overall it was brilliant, challenging, and refreshing -- it addresses so wonderfully the questions and concerns I personally found unanswered in every philosophy of science or epistemology lecture I had ever attended.
The author very beautifully connected mathematics, physics, politics, and art into a famil...more
Overall it was brilliant, challenging, and refreshing -- it addresses so wonderfully the questions and concerns I personally found unanswered in every philosophy of science or epistemology lecture I had ever attended.
The author very beautifully connected mathematics, physics, politics, and art into a famil...more
David Deutsch is brilliant, iconoclastic, and so sure of himself that it takes my breath away. No political correctness here! And no homage to that creaky old ideal of writing within your own speciality. But then he's a cosmologist, so what's not within his specialty?! Accordingly, this book is about absolutely everything. It includes critiques of contemporary science fiction, conversations between Socrates and his adherents, trips into intergalactic space, and a thorough discussion about the pr...more
Relentless. Unique. Brilliant.
This book is just absolutely relentless in the way that it uses brilliant writing in a easy to read manner just to break pretty much all of my belief systems. The author's logic is inescapable and overwhelming. Each paragraph, hell, each sentence is a masterpiece of deep meaning using simple sentences. I simply cannot read the book for more than 20 minutes at a time, it is just too much to digest. No writer that I have have ever read has altered my perceptions on so...more
This book is just absolutely relentless in the way that it uses brilliant writing in a easy to read manner just to break pretty much all of my belief systems. The author's logic is inescapable and overwhelming. Each paragraph, hell, each sentence is a masterpiece of deep meaning using simple sentences. I simply cannot read the book for more than 20 minutes at a time, it is just too much to digest. No writer that I have have ever read has altered my perceptions on so...more
This is probably the most important book i have read over the last decade. Deutsch writes beautifully - this is a clear and coherent and it needs to be because he tackles a breathtaking number of subjects. The overall message is exciting and optimistic - since the industrial revolution and the enlightenment we have been improving at an exponential rate. this is due to the dominance of scientific thinking. His argues, convincingly that the human brain has limitless possibilities - it can see and...more
This is a very interesting introduction to modern research in computational complexity and its often intriguing applications to physics, cosmology and even philosophy.
The part that struck me the most was his chapter on "Optimism". He argues that we are in the midst of an explosion of scientific knowledge and technology that may well continue for many years into the future, yielding a world that is far more advanced than anything we can imagine at the present time. He then argues further that th...more
The part that struck me the most was his chapter on "Optimism". He argues that we are in the midst of an explosion of scientific knowledge and technology that may well continue for many years into the future, yielding a world that is far more advanced than anything we can imagine at the present time. He then argues further that th...more
Can you give a book a one AND a four? This book has me split. I didn't really like it, but I did make it through and give myself credit for that (although I skipped the sections where he plays like Socrates...weird...how did his editor let that through?). And even though I didn't like it, it made me think in directions I hadn't gone before. That's worth a lot.
The author is prideful and arrogant and really rather strange, But he is good at explaining bizarro physics concepts that are on the surf...more
The author is prideful and arrogant and really rather strange, But he is good at explaining bizarro physics concepts that are on the surf...more
6 likes · like · see review
Who knew that the beginning of infinity was also the start of boring, I mean really, what a crappy way to have to spend infinity.
Anyway, this book is dryly written (despite what the back of the book jacket says) and confusingly uneven with some parts being informative and some being so incomprehensible that they would likely put somnambulists to sleep.
As far as I can tell, the author has a valid thesis which is that human intelligence can solve any problems we face as long as people remain open...more
Anyway, this book is dryly written (despite what the back of the book jacket says) and confusingly uneven with some parts being informative and some being so incomprehensible that they would likely put somnambulists to sleep.
As far as I can tell, the author has a valid thesis which is that human intelligence can solve any problems we face as long as people remain open...more
Deutsch, David. THE BEGINNING OF INFINITY: Explanations That Transform the World. (2011). ****.
I have to admit that much of Dr. Deutsch’s book went over my head, and forced me to go back and re-read many sections of it. It represents the author’s personal view of how progress is achieved in any area of human endeavor, and he approaches a variety of subjects using a conversational technique. He touches upon creation, art, culture, artificial intelligence, and a variety of other disciplines, appr...more
I have to admit that much of Dr. Deutsch’s book went over my head, and forced me to go back and re-read many sections of it. It represents the author’s personal view of how progress is achieved in any area of human endeavor, and he approaches a variety of subjects using a conversational technique. He touches upon creation, art, culture, artificial intelligence, and a variety of other disciplines, appr...more
I am mixed in my reactions to this book. In some fundamental ways, I enjoyed the book very much and appreciate that the author is very smart, widely informed, and a terrific writer. I agree with the book's fundamental intent and was greatly stimulated by the exposition. On the other hand, I think that the author tries to do too much and that, as a result, the exposition is least compelling and the most problematic precisely at the points that are most critical to the book's argument. Overall, th...more
I didn't really dwelve too much on this book since it is written in a very chaotic way, often bordering on rambling. Also, I've read books on topics such as the multiverse (so I skimmed some chapters) but in general I think it's much more useful to read more specific books on those subjects. A lot of what is presented here feels like recycling.
Basically, I just wanted to check it out because I heard about the Singularity university, of which David Deutsch is part of. I like his take on human pro...more
Basically, I just wanted to check it out because I heard about the Singularity university, of which David Deutsch is part of. I like his take on human pro...more
David Deutsch is a Fellow of the Royal Society and and expert on the quantum theory of computation based at Oxford University. Physics and an understanding of the laws of physics are at the core of this book, but it is just as much a work of philosophy, dealing as it does with progress and human society. Deutsch's contention is that the laws of reality can be known and will provide endless opportunity for investigation and the expansion of knowledge, that the principles of the scientific method...more
"Like every other destruction of optimism, whether in a whole civilisation or in a single individual, these must have been unspeakable catastrophes for those who had dared to expect progress. But we should feel more than sympathy for those people. We should take it personally. For if any of those earlier experiments in optimism had succeeded, our species would be exploring the stars by now, and you and I would be immortal."
― David Deutsch, The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform t...more
― David Deutsch, The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform t...more
The Beginning of Infinity is a great book on science and philosophy from an amazing thinker. Sure, some of its arguments seem flawed, but that barely qualifies as a criticism of a book whose point is that all our ideas are somewhat wrong but capable of infinite improvement through relentless criticism, testing and creative variation.
The book's structure is more chaotic and discursive than necessary. Later chapters do build on the ideas in earlier chapters, but the chapters on quantum theory and...more
The book's structure is more chaotic and discursive than necessary. Later chapters do build on the ideas in earlier chapters, but the chapters on quantum theory and...more
Deutsch really really really likes the word "parochial". The book tends to be a secular common sense raised to the status of an academic lecture. But it does describe nicely the evolution of scientific thought and has good summaries after each chapter.
I mostly object to the chapter on the objectivity of beauty. Except for that I subscribe to the arguments presented. It is a good check-up for a healthy employment of logic for the purpose of the evolution of knowledge, ie scientific knowledge.
Ther...more
I mostly object to the chapter on the objectivity of beauty. Except for that I subscribe to the arguments presented. It is a good check-up for a healthy employment of logic for the purpose of the evolution of knowledge, ie scientific knowledge.
Ther...more
Jan 11, 2012
Brent
marked it as to-read
Last year I chose 15 books from the New York Times 100 notable books of 2010 list. So far I've read 5 of them with reactions ranging from absolute hatred to tepid amusement. I can resist trying it again though, so this is my list of 15 books from the NYT notable books of 2011 list that I picked to add to my reading list:
Angel Esmeralda -- Don Delillo
Leftovers -- Tom Perrotta
Buddha In The Attic -- Julie Otsuka
The Last Werewolf -- Glen Duncan
Mr. Fox -- Helen Oyeyemi
Come On All You Ghosts -- Matthe...more
Angel Esmeralda -- Don Delillo
Leftovers -- Tom Perrotta
Buddha In The Attic -- Julie Otsuka
The Last Werewolf -- Glen Duncan
Mr. Fox -- Helen Oyeyemi
Come On All You Ghosts -- Matthe...more
1 like · like · see review
I cannot stress the importance of this book enough. This book is about the power and potential of explanations and therefore also of our potential as a species, as the people who are able to create these explanations. Deutsh's book is an incredibly lucid and powerful explanation in itself and I will even go as far as to conclude that with this book Deutsch has become the most important philosopher of our time!
Do yourself a favor and read this book! Deutsch's book is not technical and understanda...more
Do yourself a favor and read this book! Deutsch's book is not technical and understanda...more
Dense and difficult and in the end unsatisfying. The two fundamental questions are "How?" and "Why?" The author addresses the first, the how question, which is the only question science can answer. He argues, not wholly persuasively, for infinite progress. He ignores the why question. And in so doing, he ignores the crucial question of what meaning there can possibly be, at least for people, in infinity. The answer is: "none." What gives meaning to human life is precisely finitude, not infinity...more
What a happy book! Without being a posthumanist, Deutsch reaches back to the optimism of 1950's public science in the UK to give us a complete materialist world view. This is the sort of book that if young folks manage to get their hands on it, they will be converted. Dangerous stuff. The discussion on quantum computation is a bit thin, and I don't think he pulls together the idea of computation with the idea of explanation very well -- I do like his engagement and rejection of the classic philo...more
Amazon review:
Throughout history, mankind has struggled to understand life's mysteries, from the mundane to the seemingly miraculous. In this important new book, David Deutsch, an award-winning pioneer in the field of quantum computation, argues that explanations have a fundamental place in the universe. They have unlimited scope and power to cause change, and the quest to improve them is the basic regulating principle not only of science but of all successful human endeavor. This stream of ever...more
Throughout history, mankind has struggled to understand life's mysteries, from the mundane to the seemingly miraculous. In this important new book, David Deutsch, an award-winning pioneer in the field of quantum computation, argues that explanations have a fundamental place in the universe. They have unlimited scope and power to cause change, and the quest to improve them is the basic regulating principle not only of science but of all successful human endeavor. This stream of ever...more
Some fascinating ideas to grapple with that taken seriously can elevate your coping skills with the real world. Deutsch, one of if not the premier exponent of the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, insists on the need to further knowledge by seeking good explanations. He provides example after example of explanations that satisfied the intellectuals of their time but were totally inadequate, which is sobering as well as entertaining. The key takeaway I had was that it isn't necessa...more
This book did a good job of making me mad and making me think. The writing is quite dense, and Deutsch can be pretty harsh in his criticisms, occasionally slipping over into making unfair criticisms that don't actually seem to be addressing the real claims of his targets. However, he is lucid in his explanations, and very persuasive. I particularly enjoyed his coverage of mathematical classification of orders of infinity, which is something I remember learning in college, but had mostly lost. I...more
David Deutsch is a little long-winded and jumps around a lot, but the book has a few valuable insights. Primarily, he writes about epistemology and how best to approximate truth.
I found the most interesting material to be his tangential discussion of politics. He states that most political science focuses on the question "Who should rule?", whereas the correct question to ask is "How to do we setup a government that facilitates the removal of bad policy and bad leaders." But, to be honest, the b...more
I found the most interesting material to be his tangential discussion of politics. He states that most political science focuses on the question "Who should rule?", whereas the correct question to ask is "How to do we setup a government that facilitates the removal of bad policy and bad leaders." But, to be honest, the b...more
Deutsch's dissertation on the beginning of infinity is complex and a mind twister. However, he delivers some concrete theses on the science of physics supported by mathematics as well as the other side of philosophy supported only by mythology. I plodded through the book enjoying the nuggets of profound truth (guess that should be truth as we know it today) and yawning when he got way over my head on transformation etc. At the end, I wanted to do a 'monkey see; monkey do' yawn knowing that was w...more
Nov 15, 2011
Roy Kenagy
marked it as to-read
David Albert in New York Times Book Review: http://nyti.ms/u0MIzg
"...a brilliant and exhilarating and profoundly eccentric book. It’s about everything: art, science, philosophy, history, politics, evil, death, the future, infinity, bugs, thumbs, what have you."
The writing is "...akin to great, wide, learned, meandering conversation — something that belongs to the genre of, say, Robert Burton’s “Anatomy of Melancholy” — never dull, often startling and fantastic and beautiful, often at odds with...more
"...a brilliant and exhilarating and profoundly eccentric book. It’s about everything: art, science, philosophy, history, politics, evil, death, the future, infinity, bugs, thumbs, what have you."
The writing is "...akin to great, wide, learned, meandering conversation — something that belongs to the genre of, say, Robert Burton’s “Anatomy of Melancholy” — never dull, often startling and fantastic and beautiful, often at odds with...more
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David Deutsch, FRS is a British physicist at the University of Oxford. He is a non-stipendiary Visiting Professor in the Department of Atomic and Laser Physics at the Centre for Quantum Computation (CQC) in the Clarendon Laboratory of the University of Oxford. He pioneered the field of quantum computation by being the first person to formulate a description for a quantum Turing machine, as well as...more
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“Like every other destruction of optimism, whether in a whole civilisation or in a single individual, these must have been unspeakable catastrophes for those who had dared to expect progress. But we should feel more than sympathy for those people. We should take it personally. For if any of those earlier experiments in optimism had succeeded, our species would be exploring the stars by now, and you and I would be immortal.”
—
3 people liked it
“Feeling insignificant because the universe is large has exactly the same logic as feeling inadequate for not being a cow.”
—
1 person liked it
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Apr 30, 2012 02:28pm