The Beginning of Infinity
Explanations That Transform the World
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The Beginning of Infinity
Buy Now for £16.99
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Narrated by:
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Walter Dixon
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By:
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David Deutsch
About this listen
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.
©2011 David Deutsch (P)2011 Gildan Media CorpListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
One of the best
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The most positive, life-changing book that offers a deep theory of the nature of and capabilities of the human mind and our impact on the universe that I’ve ever read. If there is one non-fiction book you’ll read in your life - make it this one.
The book is not really against anything - it is rather FOR what humanity unlocked with the Enlightenment and it explains very well why it is important for us to embrace and build upon it as a species.
It lives up perfectly to its opening quote by Wheeler: “Behind it all is surely an idea so simple, so beautiful, that when we grasp it – in a decade, a century, or a millennium – we will all say to each other, how could it have been otherwise?”
The first few chapters of the book outline the core idea and explain the flaw in all other ways of thinking. It is a bit dense at times - it took me several rereads of some bits to get through it. It then has what feels like a Great Filter chapter about infinity by discussing the idea of Infinity Hotel. It is mind bending and possibly a bit too much - but quite important for the finer points of the argument. But get over it and the rest of the book will deliver incredible deep insights into the nature of society, the nature of reality, why our species is different to any other, creativity, sustainability and future that will change - for the better - your outlook on life.
The breadth of chapters and explanations it offers is quite incredible. I found myself referencing it on such a wide number of subjects that it almost feels that if there is a science book that could start a religion it should please o ably be this one. Reading it years after publication and seeing how the many points it makes have been proven true by time only cement the conviction that David Deutsch truly stumbled upon and expressed clearly and without ambiguity something that is as fundamental as any theory can hope to be.
A true work of art.
Life changing great
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I'd wonder what David Deutsch's opinion of AI is now.
Perspective changing
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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.
Interesting, complex and sometimes flawed!
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The book is also very well narrated, one of the best I've heard. I listened to it in 1.25x speed.
Very worthwhile. Fantastically narrated
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