Listen free for 30 days
-
The Beginning of Infinity
- Explanations That Transform the World
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 20 hrs
- Categories: History, World
People who bought this also bought...
-
The Fabric of Reality
- The Science of Parallel Universes - and Its Implications
- By: David Deutsch
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Author of the New York Times best seller The Beginning of Infinity, David Deutsch, explores the four most fundamental strands of human knowledge: quantum physics, and the theories of knowledge, computation, and evolution - and their unexpected connections. Taken together, these four strands reveal a deeply integrated, rational, and optimistic worldview. It describes a unified fabric of reality that is objective and comprehensible, in which human action and thought are central.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Dmitry Popov on 29-06-19
-
Making Sense
- Conversations on Consciousness, Morality and the Future of Humanity
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris, David Chalmers, Babette Deutsch, and others
- Length: 22 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Neuroscientist, philosopher, podcaster and best-selling author Sam Harris has been exploring some of the greatest questions concerning the human mind, society and the events that shape our world. Harris’ search for deeper understanding of how we think has led him to engage and exchange with some of our most brilliant and controversial contemporary minds - Daniel Kahneman, Robert Sapolsky, Anil Seth and Max Tegmark - in order to unpack and understand ideas of consciousness, free will, extremism and ethical living.
-
-
Important Conversations
- By Kindle Customer on 02-09-20
-
I Am a Strange Loop
- By: Douglas R. Hofstadter
- Narrated by: Greg Baglia
- Length: 16 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of our greatest philosophers and scientists of the mind asks where the self comes from - and how our selves can exist in the minds of others. I Am a Strange Loop argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is the "strange loop" - a special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our brains. The most central and complex symbol in your brain is the one called "I". The "I" is the nexus in our brain, one of many symbols seeming to have free will and to have gained the paradoxical ability to push particles around, rather than the reverse.
-
-
tedious
- By J Westwood on 07-01-20
-
The Big Picture
- On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
- By: Sean Carroll
- Narrated by: Sean Carroll
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Already internationally acclaimed for his elegant, lucid writing on the most challenging notions in modern physics, Sean Carroll is emerging as one of the greatest humanist thinkers of his generation as he brings his extraordinary intellect to bear not only on the Higgs boson and extra dimensions but now also on our deepest personal questions. Where are we? Who are we? Are our emotions, our beliefs, and our hopes and dreams ultimately meaningless out there in the void?
-
-
More about Philosophy and its history than science
- By Amazon Customer on 06-04-20
-
Our Mathematical Universe
- My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality
- By: Max Tegmark
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Max Tegmark leads us on an astonishing journey through past, present and future, and through the physics, astronomy, and mathematics that are the foundation of his work, most particularly his hypothesis that our physical reality is a mathematical structure and his theory of the ultimate multiverse. In a dazzling combination of both popular and groundbreaking science, he not only helps us grasp his often mind-boggling theories, but he also shares with us some of the often surprising triumphs and disappointments that have shaped his life as a scientist.
-
-
Test Your Little Grey Cells
- By Simon Gibson on 30-03-14
-
Superintelligence
- Paths, Dangers, Strategies
- By: Nick Bostrom
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Superintelligence asks the questions: What happens when machines surpass humans in general intelligence? Will artificial agents save or destroy us? Nick Bostrom lays the foundation for understanding the future of humanity and intelligent life. The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant position. If machine brains surpassed human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become extremely powerful - possibly beyond our control.
-
-
Timely topic, ponderous style and robot narrator
- By Neil Stoker on 16-08-17
-
The Fabric of Reality
- The Science of Parallel Universes - and Its Implications
- By: David Deutsch
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Author of the New York Times best seller The Beginning of Infinity, David Deutsch, explores the four most fundamental strands of human knowledge: quantum physics, and the theories of knowledge, computation, and evolution - and their unexpected connections. Taken together, these four strands reveal a deeply integrated, rational, and optimistic worldview. It describes a unified fabric of reality that is objective and comprehensible, in which human action and thought are central.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Dmitry Popov on 29-06-19
-
Making Sense
- Conversations on Consciousness, Morality and the Future of Humanity
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Sam Harris, David Chalmers, Babette Deutsch, and others
- Length: 22 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Neuroscientist, philosopher, podcaster and best-selling author Sam Harris has been exploring some of the greatest questions concerning the human mind, society and the events that shape our world. Harris’ search for deeper understanding of how we think has led him to engage and exchange with some of our most brilliant and controversial contemporary minds - Daniel Kahneman, Robert Sapolsky, Anil Seth and Max Tegmark - in order to unpack and understand ideas of consciousness, free will, extremism and ethical living.
-
-
Important Conversations
- By Kindle Customer on 02-09-20
-
I Am a Strange Loop
- By: Douglas R. Hofstadter
- Narrated by: Greg Baglia
- Length: 16 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of our greatest philosophers and scientists of the mind asks where the self comes from - and how our selves can exist in the minds of others. I Am a Strange Loop argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is the "strange loop" - a special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our brains. The most central and complex symbol in your brain is the one called "I". The "I" is the nexus in our brain, one of many symbols seeming to have free will and to have gained the paradoxical ability to push particles around, rather than the reverse.
-
-
tedious
- By J Westwood on 07-01-20
-
The Big Picture
- On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
- By: Sean Carroll
- Narrated by: Sean Carroll
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Already internationally acclaimed for his elegant, lucid writing on the most challenging notions in modern physics, Sean Carroll is emerging as one of the greatest humanist thinkers of his generation as he brings his extraordinary intellect to bear not only on the Higgs boson and extra dimensions but now also on our deepest personal questions. Where are we? Who are we? Are our emotions, our beliefs, and our hopes and dreams ultimately meaningless out there in the void?
-
-
More about Philosophy and its history than science
- By Amazon Customer on 06-04-20
-
Our Mathematical Universe
- My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality
- By: Max Tegmark
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Max Tegmark leads us on an astonishing journey through past, present and future, and through the physics, astronomy, and mathematics that are the foundation of his work, most particularly his hypothesis that our physical reality is a mathematical structure and his theory of the ultimate multiverse. In a dazzling combination of both popular and groundbreaking science, he not only helps us grasp his often mind-boggling theories, but he also shares with us some of the often surprising triumphs and disappointments that have shaped his life as a scientist.
-
-
Test Your Little Grey Cells
- By Simon Gibson on 30-03-14
-
Superintelligence
- Paths, Dangers, Strategies
- By: Nick Bostrom
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Superintelligence asks the questions: What happens when machines surpass humans in general intelligence? Will artificial agents save or destroy us? Nick Bostrom lays the foundation for understanding the future of humanity and intelligent life. The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant position. If machine brains surpassed human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become extremely powerful - possibly beyond our control.
-
-
Timely topic, ponderous style and robot narrator
- By Neil Stoker on 16-08-17
-
How Innovation Works
- Serendipity, Energy and the Saving of Time
- By: Matt Ridley
- Narrated by: Matt Ridley
- Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Innovation is the main event of the modern age, the reason we experience both dramatic improvements in our living standards and unsettling changes in our society. It is innovation that will shape the 21st century. Yet innovation remains a mysterious process, poorly understood by policy makers and businessmen alike. Matt Ridley argues that we need to see innovation as an incremental, bottom-up, fortuitous process that happens as a direct result of the human habit of exchange, rather than an orderly, top-down process developing according to a plan.
-
-
Positive and fascinating
- By John upfield on 14-02-21
-
Complexity
- The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos
- By: M. Mitchel Waldrop
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a rarified world of scientific research, a revolution has been brewing. Its activists are not anarchists, but rather Nobel Laureates in physics and economics and pony-tailed graduates, mathematicians, and computer scientists from all over the world. They have formed an iconoclastic think-tank and their radical idea is to create a new science: complexity. They want to know how a primordial soup of simple molecules managed to turn itself into the first living cell--and what the origin of life some four billion years ago can tell us about the process of technological innovation today.
-
-
A simply told story of complexity
- By Tim on 21-07-20
-
Something Deeply Hidden
- Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime
- By: Sean Carroll
- Narrated by: Sean Carroll
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist and one of this world’s most celebrated writers on science, rewrites the history of 20th-century physics. Already hailed as a masterpiece, Something Deeply Hidden shows for the first time that facing up to the essential puzzle of quantum mechanics utterly transforms how we think about space and time. His reconciling of quantum mechanics with Einstein’s theory of relativity changes, well, everything. Most physicists haven’t even recognized the uncomfortable truth: Physics has been in crisis since 1927.
-
-
Brilliant but not for beginners
- By Anonymous User on 25-12-19
-
What Is Real?
- The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics
- By: Adam Becker
- Narrated by: Greg Tremblay
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The untold story of the heretical thinkers who challenged the establishment to rethink quantum physics and the nature of reality. Every physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation and dismissed questions about the reality underlying quantum physics as meaningless.
-
-
excellent history of quantum
- By Hanna on 24-04-19
-
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
- By: Thomas S. Kuhn
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A good book may have the power to change the way we see the world, but a great book actually becomes part of our daily consciousness, pervading our thinking to the point that we take it for granted, and we forget how provocative and challenging its ideas once were - and still are. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is that kind of book.
-
-
Essential reading for thoughtful people
- By Isolde on 04-09-12
-
The Emperor's New Mind
- Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics
- By: Roger Penrose
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 18 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this absorbing and frequently contentious book, Roger Penrose puts forward his view that there are some facets of human thinking that can never be emulated by a machine. The book's central concern is what philosophers call the "mind-body problem". Penrose examines what physics and mathematics can tell us about how the mind works, what they can't, and what we need to know to understand the physical processes of consciousness.
-
-
no thought to reading the equations
- By Jay van Rensburg on 27-11-19
-
The Sovereign Individual
- Mastering the Transition to the Information Age
- By: James Dale Davidson, Lord William Rees-Mogg, Peter Thiel - preface
- Narrated by: Michael David Axtell
- Length: 19 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two renowned investment advisors and authors of the best seller The Great Reckoning bring to light both currents of disaster and the potential for prosperity and renewal in the face of radical changes in human history as we move into the next century. The Sovereign Individual details strategies necessary for adapting financially to the next phase of Western civilization.
-
-
WOW this book was written over 20 years ago
- By Pawel Maestro on 07-09-20
-
The Case Against Reality
- Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes
- By: Donald Hoffman
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Challenging leading scientific theories that claim that our senses report back objective reality, cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman argues that while we should take our perceptions seriously, we should not take them literally. How can it be possible that the world we see is not objective reality? And how can our senses be useful if they are not communicating the truth? Hoffman grapples with these questions and more over the course of this eye-opening work.
-
-
mind blowing
- By Jadedragon on 19-09-19
-
The Book of Why
- The New Science of Cause and Effect
- By: Judea Pearl, Dana Mackenzie
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Correlation does not imply causation". This mantra has been invoked by scientists for decades and has led to a virtual prohibition on causal talk. But today, that taboo is dead. The causal revolution, sparked by Judea Pearl and his colleagues, has cut through a century of confusion and placed causality - the study of cause and effect - on a firm scientific basis.
-
-
Is the narrator a robot?
- By Nigel Warburton on 06-09-19
-
Consciousness Explained
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Paul Mantell
- Length: 21 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The national bestseller chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 1991 is now available as an audiobook. The author of Brainstorms, Daniel C. Dennett replaces our traditional vision of consciousness with a new model based on a wealth of fact and theory from the latest scientific research.
-
-
As good as it gets
- By Yomi on 22-03-17
-
Darwin's Dangerous Idea
- Evolution and the Meanings of Life
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 27 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a book that is both groundbreaking and accessible, Daniel C. Dennett, whom Chet Raymo of The Boston Globe calls "one of the most provocative thinkers on the planet", focuses his unerringly logical mind on the theory of natural selection, showing how Darwin's great idea transforms and illuminates our traditional view of humanity's place in the universe. Dennett vividly describes the theory itself and then extends Darwin's vision with impeccable arguments to their often surprising conclusions, challenging the views of some of the most famous scientists of our day.
-
-
Not an easy book to remain engaged with
- By HKM on 30-07-19
-
The Science of Information: From Language to Black Holes
- By: Benjamin Schumacher, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Benjamin Schumacher
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Science of Information: From Language to Black Holes covers the exciting concepts, history, and applications of information theory in 24 challenging and eye-opening half-hour lectures taught by Professor Benjamin Schumacher of Kenyon College. A prominent physicist and award-winning educator at one of the nation’s top liberal arts colleges, Professor Schumacher is also a pioneer in the field of quantum information, which is the latest exciting development in this dynamic scientific field.
-
-
Mind bending!
- By Diogenes on 21-08-19
Summary
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 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 improving explanations has infinite reach, according to Deutsch: we are subject only to the laws of physics, and they impose no upper boundary to what we can eventually understand, control, and achieve. In his previous book, The Fabric of Reality, Deutsch describe the four deepest strands of existing knowledge-the theories of evolution, quantum physics, knowledge, and computation-arguing jointly they reveal a unified fabric of reality. In this new book, he applies that worldview to a wide range of issues and unsolved problems, from creativity and free will to the origin and future of the human species.
Filled with startling new conclusions about human choice, optimism, scientific explanation, and the evolution of culture, The Beginning of Infinity is a groundbreaking audio book that will become a classic of its kind.
Critic reviews
More from the same
What listeners say about The Beginning of Infinity
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Jim Vaughan
- 11-10-12
Interesting, complex and sometimes flawed!
David Deutsch is a genius. As the father of modern quantum computing, he has an exceptional mind, and I found this book full of stimulating ideas and arguments going well beyond the reach of Physics.
His thesis, based on a synthesis of Popper, Dawkins and Hilbert, as well as his own interpretation of the Many Worlds theory of QM, is that through creativity, and the continuous search for "good explanation", we are able to shape our environment in ways no other force of nature is capable, and the reach of that ability is infinite.
At times his arguments are really hard to follow, and I suspected he may be slipping in some slightly dubious logic. For instance, his argument against the "Anthropic Principle" explanation for the "fine tuning problem". However, his early chapters e.g. on Hilberts "Infinity Hotel" and on "fungible" universes in QM are exhilarating.
However, as the book went on, I became increasingly irritated. Having persuaded us of the power and reach of "good explanations", he betrays these very values. In his chapter on aesthetics, he specifically rejects the explanation that we find flowers beautiful for biological reasons (e.g. bright colours as a super stimulus for a species once adapted to seek brightly coloured ripe fruits), and instead opts for an "objective beauty" explanation, which explains nothing.
To add insult to injury he follows this by a lengthy explanation of cultural evolution based on Dawkins "meme" theory, (which itself is a poor explanation, which even Dawkins has not bothered to develop). Deutsch's conclusion that in the past creativity was used to suppress innovation is bizarre. "Dual Inheritance Theory" (which includes memes), provides a better explanation, contrasting vertical (traditional) and horizontal (progressive) modes of cultural information transmission, each of which carries benefits and dangers. His final chapters on ecology, were therefore unconvincing.
Overall, very interesting, often complex, sometimes flawed.
16 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Matthew
- 21-04-16
Stuff David Deutsch Was Interested In At The Time
This is a weird grab-bag of ideas all jumbled into a book and tenuously brought under a single title.
It starts badly. After listening to the first couple of chapters I was close to abandoning it. Firstly it seemed like this was going to be Yet Another Neo-Atheism book. That's fine, but it's covered better elsewhere and it isn't why I bought this book. I got the impression his publisher had told him to put in concepts X, Y and Z liberally to appeal to a particular book-purchasing audience. Yawn.
One of his foundational concepts is nonsense on its face: he argues that to say there is a limit to human understanding is to invoke the supernatural. But any concept which can't be expressed in the number of particles in a brain can't be understood by it, so a limit obviously exists. You might have an interesting discussion about what it is, but he denies the possibility. He even comes back to it many times, which is disappointing.
Also, the multiverse. Don't get me wrong, this chapter was actually pretty interesting, but what's it doing in this book? I think it's his pet theory or something. He tries to argue to reject the multiverse explanation is bad philosophy. This just comes across as sour grapes.
There were many good things in this book, and on balance I'm glad I finished it. His theory of explanations is interesting and well expressed. The chapter involving the discussion between Socrates and Hermes was initially weird, but I ultimately really enjoyed where he went with it and appreciated the style. Also, despite having nothing to do with the rest of the book his exposition on the multiverse is worth a listen.
Narrator was excellent, very easy to listen to.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gharper
- 29-12-15
Very worthwhile. Fantastically narrated
Like some other reviewers I wasn't convinced by the author's interpretation of a few issues such as the description of objective beauty and arguments leading on from it. However, for the most part this is fantastic with some very thought inducing analogies, including Startrek teleporters in parallel dimensions. The bit about political systems and fair political representation was also incite full.
The book is also very well narrated, one of the best I've heard. I listened to it in 1.25x speed.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nigel Warburton
- 07-08-20
Could be better narration
Why do publishers inflict this in audio? Especially on an audience like the UK, why not Jonathan Kebble, Simon Vance, Stephen Fry, Jeremy Irons, Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson or any actor able to emote and speak in a clear variable intonation about a clearly interesting topic? So many books it's the same bottom line thought that it's cheaper to have one narrator so UK can just be shelled out the American one! But it makes it like getting through mud to me. The author speaking would be better even because normal people vary their voice which would be more interesting. That said, this narrator is better than most, say, Mel Forster narrating.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John
- 26-02-20
Eye opening
Wish they'd taught this in my Physics degree uni, we need to hear what is so obviously being said by the Universe
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- AndyW
- 20-02-19
too philosophical
I really enjoy science books. I don't mind struggling through chapters on areas I don't understand that well (particle physics), but for a science book this book felt too philosophical and labourered page after page to make a point. like reading a thesis.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Andrew Hanton
- 17-09-18
Just wow: a must-read
what a mind this guy has got. such insight. a feast for the curious and for anyone with a sense of wonder.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Simon
- 15-07-18
I struggled to understand the authors arguments
fantastically narrated and full of depth, amazing depth covering so many of my favourite topis that i kept listening despite not being able to decipher clear arguments. ... the authors style was very digestible but i struggled to understand what the main position the author was taking in many cases. At times there was too much meandering that i switched off. This is mainly a philosophical approach and at times seemed to hooked up on the semantics of argument rather than an exploration of physics. The whole infinity thing i really couldnt buy. i will try to listen again sometime.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Alex Stuart
- 13-07-18
Fantastic
This book (specifically the notions of universal problem solving) genuinely made me see humans in a different light, and the physics side made me want to read his other book straight after. Bonus - the narrator sounds like Brent Spiner.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael Winski
- 26-06-18
food for thought. A nice mix of human knowledge.
mixed ramblings of confusion. spirel arguments leading to empty ancers.
wonders of the human mind.
a great book for a starving mind.
provided hopeless ponder.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Scott Feuless
- 12-08-19
Worthwhile if you have the patience
Listening to this book was one of those "good/bad" experiences for me. I'm going to start with the bad, so hang around if you want to hear the good. The first seven chapters were a monumental waste of my time, primarily because they are spent delivering a critique of many various schools of philosophical thought that Deutsch doesn't like. This is a clever approach, since it allows Deutsch to casually dismiss concepts with which he disagrees later in the book as instrumentalist, reductionist, empiricist, or whatever label he can most easily apply at the moment to get you to not consider counter-ideas very closely (there are lots of them). Where no such labels apply, he casually pronounces things "good" or "bad," or perhaps "parochial," which is a simple stand-in for "bad" and is dramatically overused throughout the book. He never, at least that I noticed, communicates the least uncertainty with words like "I think" or "my idea is this," even when discussing fairly controversial topics. This is a book of pronouncements from a truly gigantic ego. Though I frequently agreed with his positions on things, it was also common for me to think of objections that I would have liked to discuss, but the author had simply moved on. Things get better in chapters 8-12 and then meander around from one topic to the next with very little tying them together other than possibly the theme of evolution. That would have been fine, but some interesting topics were covered in a rather cursory way. Deutsch seems to accept, for example, the popular sci-fi saw that we will be able to upload our minds into computers, without any discussion at all of the difficulties this might pose when we don't currently understand either memory or consciousness very well. Indeed, it seems precisely like the kind of "prophesy" that the author dismisses elsewhere in the book, and yet the idea doesn't receive the same disrespect. When discussing climate change, his perspective is more or less to expect the problem to be solved, since that's what humans are good at doing - solving problems. He fails to examine the possibility that humans will invent excellent solutions, and perhaps already have, but that those solutions will never be implemented due to political and social forces that favor inaction whenever preventive, rather than reactive, measures are called for.
The heart of the book is in chapters 8-11, which is where Deutsch is most in his element. He attacks the topics of quantum theory and the multiverse in a way that I found to be quite thought-provoking, and any book that provokes thought is, in my opinion, worth reading (or listening to). This should come as no surprise, since Deutsch has made his name in the field of quantum computing, but what really helps is the very clear voice that he uses throughout the book. He does have a talent for explanation, even when the subject matter is complex, so I would recommend the book for that reason alone. I think he managed to nudge my understanding of quantum theory forward a bit, and for that I'm grateful.
So the book gets three stars from me, which means that I found it a valuable listen, but it's far from perfect. Skip the first 7 chapters. Really. Once you get to the end of chapter 11, keep going as long as it holds your interest, but don't be afraid you'll miss something great if you don't finish.
31 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- kevmoo
- 19-01-14
A Perspective Shifter
This book has flaws. Dr. Deutsch makes a few generalizations that I found a bit unfair -- related to physiological research and sustainability as it relates to environmentalism.
BUT!
It's a perspective shifter.
I think about progress and humanity and our place in the universe differently.
I think about science and the scientific method differently.
It gave me glue to connect concepts I've found and liked from other books.
It's deep. It's complex. It's not "easy".
But certainly valuable.
Kudos.
31 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Nigel
- 30-06-15
Breathtaking
If you could sum up The Beginning of Infinity in three words, what would they be?
Formidable
Intellectual
Virtuosity
Any additional comments?
The Beginning of Infinity delivers a wonderfully dizzying display of intellectual virtuosity. I find it hard to conceive of the depth of preparation that must have gone into preparing the amazing synthesis that is provided by Deutsch in this light hearted, weightily significant masterpiece. At many points in the book, its depth of insight, its level of surprise, its ability to reach for the important in phenomena from sub-sub-sub-microscopic through to ultra-cold of deep space, from the soul-crushing impact of static societies through to the freewheeling exploration of world-views and universes had me exclaiming (sometimes to the surprise of others as I lived the book between my ear buds over several days). Deutsch tackles giants (Dawkins, Hofstadter and Dennet and many many more) without perceptible fear of authority - addressing the magic of their insights and the folly of their oversights with candid and calculated precision. I loved his portrayal of people as universal explainers / makers of meaning. I loved the picture he creates of the acceleration of possibility now that evolution is released from the constraints of the biological. I loved his firm hold on the possibility for repeatedly stepping beyond gloom that is available only to participants in dynamic society. I loved the brightly lit lobby of Infinity Hotel and its implications for metaphor in learning. And I was frustrated to all hell that Deutsch still failed to convince me on multiverses despite clearly thinking in the spaces where I always find objections (over the blithe extrapolations over orders of magnitude between observed phenomena in the quantum world to make proclamations about implications in the world of emergent phenomena we inhabit in our macroscopic lives) - perhaps I just need to listen to that section three more times ....
Dixon's consistently fresh presentation throughout this gargantuan task is a credit to him - a really great read.
My strong impression is that this is an audiobook that no English-speaking person anywhere should fail to listen to and luxuriate in - in this case, "life changing" is for real. Thank you both for slipping its explosive reality into my unsuspecting June 2015.
27 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- S. Rasch
- 15-11-16
Perhaps the most important book written so far.
Accessible language, a joy to listen to across the multitude of fascinating subjects. A complete software upgrade for your brain.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Gary
- 22-05-12
Covers nothing to everything
One of my favorite books and provided me with many insights into our place in the universe and how we know the things we know. Deutsch explains the very small to the very large. He provides a reasonable explanation of the measurement problem in physics and a consistent theory on multiple universes. His survey of different schools of philosophies is one of the best I've read. He even has a detailed chapter on developing the most efficient election process which doesn't fully fit the theme of the book, but he explains it so well it becomes an intriguing chapter.
After reading the book, you will have an appreciation for the infinity and understand what is meant by 'everything possible will happen with certainty".
26 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Zachary Crockett
- 15-02-17
Momentous content, unfortunate tone
I had high hopes, as Deutsch's work came recommended by a thoughtful physicist friend I respect, but for the first several chapters I was turned off by the tone of the writing. However, as I continued listening, I gradually became convinced of the precision and truth of the knowledge Deutsch was sharing.
This book is philosophy, with dashes of physics. It is important. I wish more people believed as the author does. He is careful with his definitions and rigorous with his logic. I need to get some distance from this book and then read it again, probably in writing instead of audio. That said, the memes in The Beginning of Infinity would be better replicators if the author's tone were less aloof, snotty, and dismissive of, well, most people ever.
If you are the type who can listen past the veneer of an unfortunately off-putting tone to some deep ideas about the nature of knowledge, the nature of progress (in a true, not superficial sense), and a mindset of fundamental optimism through recognizing one's fallibility then please, please give this book a try. With that caveat, I do strongly recommend it.
If we hold these ideas, there is no limit to what we can achieve.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- carl801
- 24-09-12
This book is a wild ride!
Wow. I do not pretend to understand even the 20th part of the ideas in this book. Who would have thought that a physicist and mathematician could express himself so eloquently on so many disparate subjects? This book is all over the map; it's a wild romp through an amazing mind. David Deutsch's ego must be at least the size of the Milky Way Galaxy--no, wait, that's too "parochial", too provincial by N orders of magnitude! Well, I guess it does take some bravado to take on evolution, quantum mechanics, history, universality, even knowledge itself, and still find time for politics, philosophy, artificial intelligence, and a conversation with Socrates. Along the way, as Deutsch manages to drop an amazing idea you never heard before into just about every paragraph, his major theses boils down to two things: first, good explanations lead to an infinity of knowledge, while bad explanations have only the power to fool us; and secondly, there will always be problems, but they can be solved if we can separate the good explanations from the bad ones.
Doing that in the real world we live in every day is hard, way harder than I think Deutsch realizes. We are fallible human beings who more often than not ignore even the most elegant of explanations with impunity. That said, being inside his head for the last couple of days was a privilege indeed.
By the way, the reader did a great job of not being in the way!
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Nancy
- 28-12-12
Brilliant but difficult to understand
Would you listen to The Beginning of Infinity again? Why?
I'd HAVE to listen to it again if I want to understand some of the many highly abstract intellectual concepts introduced by Deutsch. I think this is a compelling read anyway. I will listen again.
Were the concepts of this book easy to follow, or were they too technical?
No. I wouldn't say they were too technical, just above my intellectual and cognitive "pay grade" in some areas. I suspect most listeners will feel the same way. Though I personally have a PhD in an admittedly unrelated-to-physics but nonetheless a very analytical and technical field, I simply could not follow certain discussions, such as the one relating to Quantum Mechanics.
What does Walter Dixon bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
He was competent and a clear enunciator. However, I think actually READING a physical book would be better in this case: It would enable one to go back to prior sentences or pages to reread them. The nature of his book is such that if you didn't understand the initial paragraphs of a topic he introduces, the odds are good that you won't understand the rest of the discussion. His arguments are like building blocks.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Yes, "Infinity Hotel" was one. Another was a discussion of his views, which I share, on how mankind should deal with the prospects of global warming.
Any additional comments?
Deutsch is absolutely a genius. I am not convinced he is necessarily right when he tries to extend his scientific reasoning to completely unrelated fields, but he definitely makes you think in a completely new light. I'd say "Bravo". This is a very important book.
16 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Zach Mclean
- 02-12-16
Infinitely interesting
Not what I'd call an easy read, but some very compelling ideas and new ways of thinking about not only scientific inquiry, but inquiry in general. I must say I've come away from this book having a fundamentally different concept of the universe and the knowledge within it.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- M. R. Mosall
- 13-09-20
Boring and Repetitive
Author uses many words to come to obvious conclusions. Not at all interesting. Difficult to remain awake while listening.
2 people found this helpful