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The Beginning Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World Audio CD – Unabridged, March 1, 2021
Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length1 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherGildan Audio and Blackstone Publishing
- Publication dateMarch 1, 2021
- Dimensions5.2 x 5.7 inches
- ISBN-13979-8200639410
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"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...It hardly seems worth saying...that the chutzpah of this guy is almost beyond belief, and that any book with these sorts of ambitions is necessarily, in some overall sense, a failure, or a fraud, or a joke, or madness. But Deutsch...is so smart, and so strange, and so creative, and so inexhaustibly curious, and so vividly intellectually alive, that it is a distinct privilege, notwithstanding everything, to spend time in his head."
-- "New York Times Book Review""Among the most ambitious works of nonfiction I have read."
-- "New Yorker""An adventurous, intellectually stimulating book on how problems are solved."
-- "Barnes & Noble, editorial review""Both skeptical and optimistic, Deutsch devotes ingenious chapters to refuting ideas (empiricism, induction, holism) and philosophies (positivism, most modernism, post-modernism) that limit what we can learn...[a] provocative, imaginative investigation of human genius."
-- "Kirkus Reviews (starred review)""Makes the case for infinite progress with such passion, imagination, and quirky brilliance."
-- "Wall Street Journal"About the Author
David Deutsch is a member of the Quantum Computation and Cryptography Research Group at the Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford University. He is the author of The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations that Transform the World and The Fabric of Reality, which was shortlisted for the Rhone-Poulenc Science Book Prize in 1998.
Product details
- ASIN : B08Z2THQWW
- Publisher : Gildan Audio and Blackstone Publishing
- Publication date : March 1, 2021
- Edition : Unabridged
- Language : English
- Print length : 1 pages
- ISBN-13 : 979-8200639410
- Dimensions : 5.2 x 5.7 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #5,428,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #18 in History & Philosophy of Science (Books)
- #56 in Physics (Books)
- #205 in Philosophy (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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Customers find the book insightful, making them think outside the box about mathematics and delving deeply into various subjects beyond science. Moreover, the book receives positive feedback for its creativity, clarity, and deep, riveting content. Additionally, customers appreciate its aesthetics and humor, with one noting its delightful sense of humor. However, the ease of reading receives mixed reviews, with some finding it very easy to follow while others find it difficult to understand.
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Customers find the book insightful, noting that it increases their understanding of thought processes and delves deeply into science. They appreciate its uplifting view on human thinking.
"...What I found most beneficial to me was the emphasis on optimism. Humans are great creators, testers and explainers. That's exciting...." Read more
"...Good explanations, like Galileo's, always place us at the beginning of infinity, and The Beginning of Infinity is the title and theme of this..." Read more
"...In this book, David tells us why asking good questions and seeking good explanations are not just central to science, but to the enlightenment way..." Read more
"...The scary thing is that this guy is incredibly smart. Arguably a genius. Which maybe explains why brains ultimately are NOT enough." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's creativity, describing it as extraordinary and original, with one customer highlighting its exploration of mathematics, aesthetics, and morality.
"...impossibility of truly representational government, memes, beauty, creativity, sustainability, artificial intelligence, and the concept of..." Read more
"...- that variation and selection applied to epistemology unleashes a very unique, powerful and potentially unbounded genie - is fascinating to say the..." Read more
"...What am I missing? For me, the writing is crystal clear, charming and riveting, like the author himself when you hear him speak -- it's a sheer..." Read more
"...Along the way, he explains the origins and importance of democracy, creativity, and beauty, and points out the dangers of static societies and..." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's pacing, with one noting how it makes their brain "explode" with new ideas, while others describe it as intense and fresh.
"...There is no limit to anything. Especially no speed limit...." Read more
"...To me, this is the best part of the book. It makes you hallucinate. Do like me, read it...." Read more
"...I like the bits about infinity and quantum physics." Read more
"Really nice book, recommended by a friend. Intense, deep, explaining why us are destined to make progress Loving it." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's aesthetics, with one noting its masterful presentation.
"...impossibility of truly representational government, memes, beauty, creativity, sustainability, artificial intelligence, and the concept of..." Read more
"...-- a fundamentally humane worldview -- a beautiful, life-affirming, shining-beacon-of-light sort of worldview...." Read more
"...he explains the origins and importance of democracy, creativity, and beauty, and points out the dangers of static societies and pessimistic world..." Read more
"...And in so doing, he paints a masterful, challenging and hopeful picture for the future of sentient life...." Read more
Customers find the book clear, with one review noting its bright philosophical analysis.
"...Deutsch is a remarkably clear and articulate thinker...." Read more
"...Such books tend to be dry and unconvincing. By and large Deutsch is clear and highly convincing...." Read more
"...Deutsch is a clear and engaging writer. He conveys his passion for his material and for his wonder about people and progress...." Read more
"...Optomistic. Something to make just about everyone scream in wonder/horror...." Read more
Customers find the content of the book deep and riveting, with one customer noting how the author conveys their passion for the material.
"...David Deutsch speaking and found him very easy to follow and absolutely fascinating, and I wanted more...." Read more
"Really nice book, recommended by a friend. Intense, deep, explaining why us are destined to make progress Loving it." Read more
"...Deutsch is a clear and engaging writer. He conveys his passion for his material and for his wonder about people and progress...." Read more
"The book is in fine condition and the content of the book is stimulating and has explanations that lead one to think more precisely about the..." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's humor, with one describing it as delightful and another finding it entertaining.
"...However even here, the author is at least provocative and entertaining. The world would be well served if this book were mandatory reading..." Read more
"...It made me laugh out loud several times -- I LOVE that the author's sense of humor comes through even in what is a very deep, important book...." Read more
"...philosophy and more all with his astounding insight and delightful sense of humor." Read more
"It's laughable..." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about how easy the book is to read, with some finding it very easy to follow, while others find it difficult to understand.
"...I found two of Deutsch's chapters not clear enough to understand--the chapter on the mathematics of infinity and the chapter on the Many Worlds..." Read more
"...There seems to be rhetorical room for disagreement, meaning that D posits his position, criticizes the other positions and then argues that his..." Read more
"This book by David Deutsch is not a book about science but a book about philosophy of science also known as epistemology...." Read more
"...His writing is very clear and does not use excessively difficult words, but he does seem to wander far and wide and sounds too much like wikipedia...." Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2011I have no science background (except college biology) and my own reading, so my understanding of The Beginning of Infinity is somewhat limited (particularly the chapter on the multiverse). But even with that limitation, I found this to be one of the best books I've read in years in terms of developing and pushing my own understanding of the world. I reread two chapters just to try to get some inkling of their meaning (the multiverse and the jump to universality). I also read the infinity chapter twice and on the second reading I finally got the point of the infinite hotel (or at least one point). Even after two reads though, with those chapters I still felt lost. I really need to reread them all, but this is my review with just one reading.
Despite my ignorance, I still felt it worthwhile to write a review to encourage others who might think that this book is not for them to tackle it. It is worth the effort to comprehend even for those who are not versed in the sciences.
This is what I understood from the book. Deutsch argues that we are at the "beginning" of the creation of good explanations about our world (the infinity of the title is the endless knowledge that humans have the potential to create). We will always be at the beginning (such is the nature of infinity I think--at least that's what the infinite hotel suggested), and this leads to optimism about our world. Our world is filled with (overflowing with might be a better way to think of it because we don't even really know where the world ends)problems and potential solutions. Through conjecture and criticism, humans "solve" many of these problems and this leads to new problems (solutions are not truths but they are the best explanations for the problem after much testing--and stand as objective truths, I think).
D systematically builds his case, looking at other science approaches like empiricism or instrumentalism and shows why these are not good explanations. This is not an attack on alternative perspectives as much as it is the building of good explanations around the topics that are discussed (which range from beauty (D argues that beauty is objective), philosophy, psychology, elections, choices, creation and physics). There seems to be rhetorical room for disagreement, meaning that D posits his position, criticizes the other positions and then argues that his position currently stands up to available criticism. Again, the criticism isn't an attack though; it's how knowledge is created. D's conjecture and refutation approach (to use Popper's terms) seems to make so much more sense then the usual way arguments are presented: here is a claim, here is why you should believe my claim, because I have lots of support for my claim you, the reader, should agree I'm right. Even if you have 500 pages of support for your claim, one piece of criticism could refute it.
What I found most beneficial to me was the emphasis on optimism. Humans are great creators, testers and explainers. That's exciting. I still don't understand how to apply the theories and truths discussed here to human behavior, however. Deutsch does mention psychology and its bad theories, but I'm not really talking about that. I'm wondering if humans can achieve all possibilities that do not defy the laws of physics,and does this mean things like balancing the budget? Or agreeing on good laws? How does the human ability to develop good explanations work in these instances? Deutsch (referencing Popper, who he references a lot)states that reforming politics is more a matter of setting up laws that allow us to get rid of bad rulers and bad laws (as opposed to trying to somehow fix the system to make sure only "good" politicians got elected, or good laws passed). Is the assumption that if those laws were in place than politicians would develop/accept good explanations for fear of being got rid of (or would we just end up overturning things over and over again? Now I'm prophesying which D condemns; what could we predict about human behavior? that is really the question . . . ). Do the principles raised in this book work with human behavior just as they do with physical and technical problems?
Deutsch starts with some fundamental principles (lots more than the ones I'm listing but these are what stood out to me and that I remember):
1. there is no authoritative way to knowledge
2. Humans are unique; what makes us unique is our ability to criticize our ideas and to generate new ones
3. The best knowledge for anything is a good explanation (we ask, is this the best explanation?). Good explanations are the ones that withstand heavy and sustained criticism
4. All observation is theory driven
5. evolution favors the genes that can spread through the population
6. morality, beauty, abstract concepts exist objectively (through good explanations)
7. the laws of physics determine mathematical principles
8. The universe is not random; but determined by the laws of physics.
9. prophecy is bad explanation; prediction from good explanation is better
10. Humans are creative but we have to be open to our creativity in order to feed it (the enlightenment was the first large scale example of this). We have to recognize that problems exist, that people can solve them and that this is the best plan for humans.
When I finished I had lots of questions. I don't really get the concept of "fine tuning", and I don't understand the multiverse at all. I understand what the words say, but I can't get my head around the idea of these multiple planes and people all existing simultaneously and then when he starts talking about the photons hitting the plate and going off I get really lost.
Not sure I get the anthropic principle. I did go do more reading on it and what I understood it to mean was that human existence (that humans are here) puts limits on the explanations for our existence. I think D disagrees with this.
A final wondering. . . Deutsch doesn't really address emotions. Emotions, particularly fear, seem to power much human behavior (and certainly the stagnancy he discusses that kept us from moving forward with our creativity). In the rational world offered by this book, how do people "deal with" emotional resistance? Perhaps Deutsch would say that question isn't really relevant. There are good explanations for why emotion overpowers reason (I think they are good, but maybe they aren't--such as the part of our brains that powers emotions is much more powerful than that which powers reason), but such explanations do not help us to overcome this problem.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2011In a day and age when fear appears to be a primary commodity our politicians, media and economists try to sell us, we forget the progress we have made in the last few centuries. In the sixteenth century, Galileo demonstrated that it was possible for everything on earth to be moving through space at breakneck speed while appearing to us to be at rest. In the seventeenth century Newton put forth theories of planetary motion and with Leibniz invented calculus. In the 18th century, the foundations of modern chemistry and geology were established. In the nineteenth century, the telegraph was invented marking the first time the message could outdistance the messenger; Darwin put forth his theory of evolution establishing modern biology; the world of microbes was unlocked (with all the advances in medicine that event enabled); electricity turned night into day in an unprecedented way. The twentieth century, well . . . it would take volumes to list the advances in the twentieth century most of which were not and possibly could not have been predicted at the beginning of the century because, as this book often points out, we cannot predict innovation. David Deutsch reminds us of these indisputable facts, and creates a vision of our future that is both optimistic and realistic. It is optimistic in the sense that our progress is infinite. It is realistic because he recognizes that we will always have problems, and, indeed, often (but not always) these problems will be a consequence of our solutions to older problems.
There is only one way of thinking that is capable of making such progress and this is the way of seeking good explanations though creativity and criticism. The better an explanation, the more extensive is its range and the more difficult it is to construct an better, alternative explanation. Parochial theories (theories that may apply rules of thumb to local situations, but then often claim universality) always resist explanatory knowledge. Parochial knowledge seeks to be justified by one external authority or another. It has taken the form of a parent saying, "Because I said so" or a church leader saying, "Because God says so" in order to justify one belief or another. Cultural memes often provide the same sort of parochial explanations that resist knowledge that seeks good explanations.
Good explanations are not limited to the sciences, and they are important because they have infinite reach. Deutsch describes this infinite reach and contrasts it with parochial theories in many ways throughout the book. One example -which he does not use- might be a brief contrast between the physics of Aristotle and Galileo. Aristotle's physics was based on rest. It was based on rest because he thought that the earth rested at the center of the cosmos. Objects fell (or were elevated) because of their weight (in Latin the word for weight is gravitas). The heavier the object was, the closer it was to the center of the cosmos. The lighter it was, the further away from the center its natural place was. There is more to Aristotle than this, but the point is that Aristotle's theory was parochial. It pertained only to the earth and it did not have infinite reach. Indeed, according to Aristotle, the celestial bodies were so light (actually they had no weight) that they were not made of the same material as that on the earth. As a consequence, celestial bodies were not subject to the same physical laws as bodies on earth. Galileo explained it differently. Following Copernicus, Galileo did not think the earth was the center. His physical theory was based on motion not rest. Accordingly, his theory applied to the planets and stars as well as the earth. Galileo was at the beginning of infinity. His speculations launched us on a path that could not have been predicted. Over the years his theory was subjected to a variety of criticisms and progress was made that exceeded even his wildest imagination. Good explanations, like Galileo's, always place us at the beginning of infinity, and The Beginning of Infinity is the title and theme of this remarkable book.
Deutsch spends much valuable time discussing obstacles to knowledge based on good explanations such as bad philosophy, justifications based on authority, memes that impede good explanations, political systems that close debate, etc. In each case, he gives hope for the human enterprise so long as we have the will to stand at the beginning of infinity.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2025Format: KindleVerified PurchaseA solid read. Perhaps a bit too long and too smart, at least for me, but intriguing nonetheless. We do solve problems and in the process create knowledge, much like the universe itself the body knowledge is expanding and the creation is accelerating. So, it does look like the beginning of infinity. And yes, the author's favorite word does seem to be - parochial 🙂
Top reviews from other countries
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AnónimoReviewed in Mexico on August 21, 2016
5.0 out of 5 stars Buen libro
Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseLo compré porque aparentemente Mark Zuckenberg lo recomendaba. Al escuchar eso me pareció una tonteria comprarlo, pero espero valga la pena (sólo llevo 60 páginas). La razón por que me animé a comprarlo es por el autor, el es físico como yo. Al leer eso, me pareció importante darle una oportunidad.
Por el lado malo, me molesta un poco la postura del autor, ya que en ratos parece un poco pedante corrigiendo a figuras como Thomas Alva Edison y Richard Dawkins, argumentando que la postura de ellos es "incorrecta" respecto a lo que él cree.
Aún no lo acabo de leer, así que no se si lo volvería a comprar :P
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in Japan on July 15, 2015
5.0 out of 5 stars Knowledge is the center of the universe(s)
Format: KindleVerified PurchaseI loved this book, but this didn't surprise me, as I found the author's previous book, The Fabric of Reality, equally entertaining and thought provoking. I am not an expert in quantum mechanics or quantum computing. The little I knew about the topic always gave me an unease regarding the inherently probabilistic features of them. Deutsch provides a clear and deterministic explanation to quantum phenomena, which to me sounds quite intuitive despite the claims in several other books to the highly counterintuitive nature of quantum mechanics.
However, in the book this interpretation is of secondary importance to the all encompassing theory of knowledge as the main driving force in the evolution of the universe. I completely agree with the author on the importance of good explanations and that good conjectures precede 'conclusions drawn from experiments'. Read this book even if you don't agree with the many worlds interpretation.
- Cliente AmazonReviewed in Italy on July 24, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing journey into reality
This book has no commonplaces. Every line is like discovering something: you can disagree with the author but not ignore what he says.
- ShuvamReviewed in India on April 5, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars The right philosophy to look at life
This is a foundational book on how to think, how to arrive at truth and what is the right philosophy to adopt so we can continue to improve our understanding of the world. Highly recommend!
- atefehReviewed in Canada on January 4, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read book
This book is not easy to read at all. Literally, it will take maybe five days to read, but five months or a year to digest and understand. But I would say that if you want to read one book in your life, it should be this one. Listen to Naval podcast to have simplified version