The Fabric of Reality
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Product Description
An extraordinary and challenging synthesis of ideas uniting Quantum Theory, and the theories of Computation, Knowledge and Evolution, Deutsch's extraordinary book explores the deep connections between these strands which reveal the fabric of realityin which human actions and ideas play essential roles.
About the Author
DAVID DEUTSCH's research in quantum physics has been influential and highly acclaimed. He is a member of the Quantum Computation and Cryptography Research Group at the Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford University, and now lives and works in Oxford.
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First Sentence
I remember being told, when I was a small child, that in ancient times it was still possible for a very learned person to know everything that was known. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
I remember being told, when I was a small child, that in ancient times it was still possible for a very learned person to know everything that was known. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic science boldly conjectured,
By
This review is from: The Fabric of Reality: Towards a Theory of Everything (Paperback)
As a small child, David Deutsch wanted to learn everything. This does not mean that he wanted to know everything but that he wanted to understand everything that could be understood. To this end, Deutsch recognises four strands to a deep understanding of the fabric of reality: quantum physics, epistemology, computation and genetical evolution.
The particular theories Deutsch proposes in these subjects are: the parallel universes or many worlds interpretation; Karl Popper's hypothetico-deductive model; Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, specifically in the gene-centric interpretation given it by Richard Dawkins (the selfish gene school); and, in regard to computation, the Church-Turing conjecture of universal computation, universal virtual reality based on universal computation, Deutsch's own theory of quantum computation and artificial intelligence. A wilder application of computation to physical reality is Frank Tippler's theory of the omega point, a state reached in the last moments of the collapsing universe, where the minds of all previous people can be resurrected. The Fabric of Reality is altogether an excellent book, marred only by David Deutsch's insistence that anyone who doubts the many worlds interpretation does not understand quantum theory properly (and his strong hint that we are retarded by lack of imagination or honesty).
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Or The Fabric of Illusion,
By
This review is from: The Fabric of Reality: Towards a Theory of Everything (Paperback)
Deutsch uses concepts from evolution, epistemology, quantum mechanics and computers to challenge our accepted view of reality. His central tenets seem to me to be:
1. Our intuition about reality sucks e.g. you may think you're standing still but in fact you're moving with the earth. 2. Science is all about explanations and the best explanations should be adopted even if unprovable at least until a better explanation comes along. In the famous experiment where light passing through two slits behaves like waves rather than particles, Deutsch argues there are shadow photons interacting with the real ones to produce the wave effect. This is unprovable with present technology but Deutsch argues it's the only (or best) explanation. 3. From shadow photons Deutsch moves on to assert that we must "inescapably" live in a multiple universe reality and that we interact with other "us"-es in other universes. In fact Deutsch writes as if it is a fact that every possible action I could take or should have taken in the past must be or must have been acted out by some version of me in some universe. He doesn't say if I am the one acting out something someone else in another universe chose not to do. 4. There's no such thing as mathematical proof so we shouldn't trust scientists (ok, this is harsh but that's how I read it). We should trust Deutsch instead. 5. Since it's possible to even think about time travel it must be physically possible. Then follows a long indulgence on the practicalities of time travel. Here's my take: if I eat a huge huge slice of chocolate cake which I really shouldn't have eaten and then time travel to before eating the cake to stop myself eating the cake - does the cake travel in my stomach with me? What happens at the point when instead of eating the cake I give it to my neighbour who eats it? Deutsch's explanations are not clear enough for me to say if the cake then travels from my stomach to my neighbour's. Or maybe that happens in a different universe. I must admit that Deutsch writes a lot of powerful mind provoking stuff and I tried hard not to be unsettled by any of it. To no avail, I'm afraid. His arguments are striking but I couldn't help feeling here's someone who's thought long and hard about existence and who's finally come up with one answer which being too esoteric he stuffs into a scientific framework. Maybe that's what they all thought about Einstein. Having been religious once before, I'm nervous about being led up the garden path again by a guru who convinces me not to trust my intuition but only to have faith in his explanation. And yet my intuition says something as heavy as an aircraft should not be up in the sky. What to do?
36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best books about anything I have ever read!,
By
This review is from: The Fabric of Reality: Towards a Theory of Everything (Paperback)
I have read innumerable books and science magazine articles on quantum theory, relativity, astrophysics, astrononmy, string theory, etc, as well as a great deal of more generally related science. I am not a trained scientist, simple a well informed non-specialist with an interest in these areas, and I would have to say that this is the best written book of its type I have come across. It deals with extremely deep concepts across an enormous range of different but related areas of study, and I found myself at times almost shocked at the superb skill with which the author is able to deliver new concepts and arguments so cleanly and simply. The chapter that deals with quantum theory and the many-worlds hypothesis alone stands out as a masterpiece of elegance and simplicity when compared with many other works that attempt to deal with this issue. Rather than delighting and wallowing in the apparent paradoxes that quantum theory implies for the macroscopic world (as so many authors do), Deutsch simply points out that irrespective of our inability to understand and resolve those paradoxes, the conclusions at least are clear and unarguable, and this is where he starts the real work of philosophical integration that is the books theme. The rate at which new ideas in this book are delivered can leave one stunned at times, and I must recommend this book without any hesitation at all.
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