Rohan Roberts | 21st December 2015
“Crackles with originality… an awesome book.” – New Scientist
“This is a book to read for an inspiring one-man view of what science is all about.” – Sunday Times
We are constantly exhorted to think outside the box. But along comes a book that encourages you to not just think out of the box but out of the entire universe! The Fabric of Reality is an investigation into the science of parallel universes and its implications. Deutsch puts forward and defends the proposition that science is about explanation. The discoveries of science have given us tremendous insight into the structure of reality – both as we know and as we can know it.
What follows is a unique and extraordinary synthesis of four key ideas or “strands” that offer us insight into the fundamental nature of reality:
- Hugh Everett’s many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics
- Karl Popper’s epistemology
- Alan Turing’s theory of computation
- Richard Dawkins’s refinement of Darwinian evolutionary theory
By unraveling and re-threading these four strands, Deutsch reveals a fabric of reality that is rich, wondrous, and comprehensible. In this tapestry of reality the human mind and ideas, and human action and engineering take centre stage.
Deutsch points out that our best theories are not only truer than common sense, they make far more sense than common sense does. This book is his attempt to form a rational and coherent world-view on the basis of our best and most fundamental theories. And when taken to their logical ends they have far-reaching, and mind-blowing consequences.
Along the way, Deutsch explores parallel universes, shadow photons, virtual reality, aspects of infinity, quantum computing, time travel, the Omega Point and the end of the Universe.
Perhaps the most interesting chapter is the final one, titled The Ends of the Universe in which he explores the consequences and implications of the Omega Point (that point in the unimaginably distant future when intelligence will have pervaded all of space and time and our intellectual descendants will have discovered all knowledge there is to know – including how to create new universes and how to survive the collapse of this one.)
The book is filled with mind-expanding ideas with far-reaching consequences. Through platonic dialogues, riveting examples, insightful illustration and lucid prose, David Deutsch’s book leaves you feel intellectually aroused and mentally excited about the prospect of pursuing infinite knowledge.
There are books that transport you to fantasy and imaginary worlds. This book requires you to imagine unimaginable worlds. Read it, think about it, keep it aside, and then gasp in awe at the big picture that Deutsch reveals in The Fabric of Reality.
