The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes–and Its Implications by David Deutsch (PDF)

Description

A penetrating exploration of the new physics, including time travel, quantum computers, and the multiverse – as referenced in the film “Avengers: Endgame”For David Deutsch, a young physicist of unusual originality, quantum theory contains our most fundamental knowledge of the physical world. Taken literally, it implies that there are many universes “parallel” to the one we see around us. This multiplicity of universes, according to Deutsch, turns out to be the key to achieving a new worldview, one which synthesizes the theories of evolution, computation, and knowledge with quantum physics. Considered jointly, these four strands of explanation reveal a unified fabric of reality that is both objective and comprehensible, the subject of this daring, challenging book. The Fabric of Reality explains and connects many topics at the leading edge of current research and thinking, such as quantum computers (which work by effectively collaborating with their counterparts in other universes), the physics of time travel, the comprehensibility of nature and the physical limits of virtual reality, the significance of human life, and the ultimate fate of the universe. Here, for scientist and layperson alike, for philosopher, science-fiction reader, biologist, and computer expert, is a startlingly complete and rational synthesis of disciplines, and a new, optimistic message about existence.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: About the Author David Deutsch, internationally acclaimed for his seminal publications on quantum computation, is a member of the Quantum Computation and Cryptography Research Group at the Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford University.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This is an interesting and insightful book by the scientist David Deutsch. The book is well written and the points are explained in an understandable manner, although sometimes through boringly detailed examples. My rating, however, does not reflect my agreement with the content. This book gives an unorthodox view of scientific knowledge, one that is intriguing, but not necessarily true.I shall explain my view in the following paragraphs, for anyone who wants a quick overview of the book.The writer believes that science should be viewed from a different angle, that each of the four “strands of reality” he mentions makes a fundamental piece of reality that cannot be reduced to the other ( though they can be understood through each other). This view is contrary to hierarchal reductionism that is common in science and evident from many fields such as biology, chemistry, and physics. The writer also argues that our understanding of reality is getting more profound, and is driving us away from the meaningless practices of instrumentalists. I agree with this point although it is not argued for very well.As for his case for the four strands, firstly, the writer believes that the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is an avoidable fact. He describes the conclusion in a way different from how Everett first proposed it. And I think it is less convincing, despite the fact that the interpretation is more valid than the classical Copenhagen one (this is evident by how it does not limit the mathematics of QM), it should not be argued for because it is what it “seems”! Our brains did not evolve to necessarily understand the quantum world, so relying on that is in my opinion a poor argument.Second, the writer explains why the theory of computation describes a fundamental aspect of reality. Deutsch is a leading figure in this field as a physicist, and he shows us his unique view of the universality of nature. He argues that virtual reality reflects the possibilities of actual reality and he draws countless conclusions from that, including a strong form of the Turing principle, which the writer supports without doubt. My take on these proposition is that they do say something about reality, after all we do virtually simulate our surroundings in our brains. Therefore, there is some truth in this, at least that virtual reality illuminates logical possibility if not necessarily physical possibility (this is in my opinion more acceptable and consistent with the brain being a virtual reality generator).As for the strand that defines life as a fundamental aspect of reality, the writer gives it less attention than the rest. He argues from Dawkins’ theory of replicators that life patterns are similar across parallel universes, thus a fundamental aspect of reality. This did not convince me, if not because certain patterns of DNA will vary depending on the environment the organism evolved in (so different in different universes just like junk DNA is), but also because it relied on another strand to be proven. And even Dawkins himself (in the Selfish Gene) used a hierarchal argument to lead his readers through the survival of the stable to the survival of the replicator, thus deriving the theory of survival of replicators from “physical laws” and not assuming it is fundamental. Perhaps Deutsch disagrees, he states other conclusions regarding the mind and free will which modern biologists and neuroscientists may not agree on.The strand that deals with knowledge is very well argued for. I think the writer gives a deep and confident statement for Popper’s theory of the growth of scientific knowledge. The arguments are very consistent and give a very strong candidate for solving the problems of the philosophy of science. Does it really dictate how knowledge overall is obtained? Deutsch believes so, he uses it to make various assumptions, I am not sure it is applicable outside of science and problem solving in general.The writer also addresses other topics, most notably mathematics and time. In these two he excels at giving consistent views, one that I almost totally agree with when it comes to mathematics, and another which I think is the most plausible if the many worlds interpretation is proven. Another topic that is addressed in the latest chapter is the end of the universe. I believe it is the book’s weakest claim, if not only for being disproved by current cosmological observations, but also because the line of though assumes something about physical reality (the end of the universe being an omega point) from a principle which talks of logical possibility and is bound by physical laws and the actual state of the universe.This is a long review, and the book deserves it. All in all, it’s a good book for any science enthusiast. Deutsch’s world-view is interesting, comprehensive, unorthodox, and occasionally unconvincing, but is certainly inspiring.

⭐I appreciate Deutsch’s efforts and obvious intellect. It’s not very often that an intellectual will have the moxie or the time to create a “theory of everything.” In this case, Deutsch attempts just this, injecting some degree of humility in claiming that he is merely prodding us toward a theory of everything (while I believe that he believes he has proffered just such in this book). I’ve read many philosophers’ and physicists’ theories of everything over the years, including Whitehead, Schopenhauer, Russell (not collected into one book, but the collected works fairly constitute a theory of everything), and David Bohm. Bohm’s writings are perhaps least deserving of being called a theory of everything, yet he is one of a handful of physicists who have written extensively on topics outside of pure physics.Deutsch’s idea of a theory of everything certainly encompasses more than “mere” physics, so any purely physical “theory of everything,” such as quantum gravity, doesn’t fit the bill Deutsch is trying to fill. Deutsch writes of the “four strands” that weave his nascent theory of everything: Popperian epistemology, the Turing theory of computation, the Darwinian-Dawkinsian theory of evolution and multiverse quantum mechanics. I believe Deutsch is FAR too conclusive from the get-go in concluding that quantum evidence such as the double slit experiment and half-silvered mirror experiments REQUIRE accepting the multiverse (“many worlds”) interpretation of quantum mechanics. This is, as Deutsch might say, nonsense. Deutsch barely mentions Bohm’s rich interpretation of quantum mechanics, known as Bohmian quantum mechanics, the causal interpretation or the ontological interpretation. As these names suggest, it’s all about interpretation: almost no one questions the mathematics of QM because they have been shown to be empirically accurate to a very high degree in almost all situations.So while Deutsch is a very strong advocate of the multiverse interpretation, in which interference phenomena at the quantum level can ONLY be explained by the presence of an infinite number of “shadow” particles for every single particle in our particular universe, it is simply not the case that this is the only rational interpretation. I don’t pretend to understand the dozens of interpretations offered over the years for the QM formalisms. However, I have read Bohm’s books and feel I have a decent grasp of his interpretation. Bohm’s interpretation rests upon the presence of a “guiding wave” for every particle in the universe. The guiding wave always accompanies each particle. The guiding wave is part of the “implicate order” that undergirds our reality, the explicate order. The particle itself is part of the explicate order. So there is an epistemological dualism in Bohmian QM because we cannot know the implicate order directly. We can only infer it by its impacts in the explicate order – our world. I think of each particle as a tiny boat pushed along the sea surface of the implicate order by the guiding waves in the implicate order. Bohmian QM explains very well the strange interference phenomena of the double slit experiment and other quantum phenomena.Deutsch’s whole intellectual edifice rests upon the certitude of the multiverse interpretation. But this foundation is by no means certain. To say that Bohmian QM is more parsimonious than the multiverse interpretation is an understatement of infinite magnitude. This is the case because under the multiverse interpretation there are literally an infinity of universes at every point in our space-time, existing in parallel to our universe. No universe is the “real” universe – they’re all real and all exist already. This is philosophical profligacy at its worst. I can’t say it’s wrong b/c at this level of explanation nothing can really be called “wrong.” It’s simply no where near as parsimonious or as elegant an explanation as Bohmian QM, to cite one alternative explanation.Bohmian QM is itself inspired by Whitehead’s own awesome intellectual edifice. Whitehead, in 1929’s Process and Reality and a number of other scientific and philosophical works written during the course of this intellectual giant’s long career, described a philosophical system that is itself a theory of everything.Where Deutsch’s theory generally ignores the need to explain consciousness and its role in the universe, as well as the existence of mystical and spiritual experience as valid phenomena, Whitehead offers a detailed and comprehensive theory of consciousness. For Whitehead, all real things are “drops of experience.” Each “actual entity,” his term for the most basic unity of matter, is also the most basic unit of consciousness. Whitehead is thus a panpsychist. And panpsychism is a sword of unparalleled sharpness for cutting through Gordian Knots in countless fields.In sum, Deutsch is overly dismissive of alternative interpretations of QM (the foundation of his edifice), particularly Bohmian QM, which he mentions in passing only twice in the whole book; fails to offer any theory of consciousness or spiritual experience, and thus fails to offer a convincing or satisfying theory of everything.

⭐I really enjoyed the book though Deutsch can at times not make the reading easy. It you can get past his style and focus on the content it is very enlightening. His theories help and challenge your thinking. If you do not agree with his theories then at least you can take on board the facts he presents. It will challenge you and you might have reread a few sections to stay with him.

⭐This book was written as a popular science book to be compared with, and perhaps inspired by, well known favourites such as “The Emperor’s new Mind”, “The Selfish Gene” and “Godel, Escher, Bach” and, given that it was published in 1997, I was surprised I hadn’t come across it before. The author, David Deutsch, is well known for his influential papers on Quantum Computation.Here, he tackles a very broad canvas which includes quantum mechanics, quantum computation, virtual reality, time travel, the foundations of mathematics, the emergence of life and the theory of evolution. Deutsch takes issue with reductionist views of science and proposes that a “Theory of Everything” must encompass all these aspects of science, as expressed in four major strands: quantum physics, epistemology (the theory of knowledge proposed by Karl popper), computation and evolution. His central tenets are the “many worlds” interpretation of quantum mechanics (in which everything that can ever happen does, in many parallel universes) and the the idea that the world is self-similar at many different scales, so that explanations that work at one scale also work at another.It’s a deep and powerful book with much to like: I especially enjoyed Deutsch’s demolition of the standard theory of scientific induction and of the Platonic view of mathematics (that it “just exists” in a kind of perfection which is independent of the physical world). He shows that mathematics and computation only work because they are physical processes which ultimately depend on properties of the real world. He develops this approach into the “Turing principle” (it is possible to build a virtual reality generator whose repertoire includes every possible physical environment) and a clear explanation of quantum computation as a process underpinning the evolution of the physical world. Deutsch also advances a strong argument that the mathematics of physical theories should be taken literally: even apparently “unphysical” solutions to equations often have physical interpretations and these should be taken seriously even when they are counter-intuitive.The book closes with a chapter on “The Ends of the Universe” which has a somewhat dated feel because it’s based on the “Big Crunch” view of the eventual future of the universe. The current view is that expansion of the universe is actually accelerating and the Big Crunch is highly unlikely; as a consequence, the discussion in this chapter is unconvincing. Overall, the book explains and clarifies many important areas of science but readers must judge for themselves whether they accept claims based on the “many worlds” interpretation.

⭐Most people believe that a good philosopher is someone who agrees with them, but a good philosopher is someone who makes you think, which probably means they present a point of view you have not previously considered. Such is the case with David Deutsch. In The Fabric of Reality, Deutsch presents his `4 strands’ of reality: quantum mechanics, epistemology (theory of knowledge), evolution and computation. In expanding on these themes, he explores topics such as virtual reality, Turing’s principle, Godel’s Incompleteness Theorem, quantum computers, DNA, the nature of time and even time travel. Deutsch has developed an entire world view on the premise that `reality’ is not the `classical’ physics of Einstein’s `spacetime’, but a quantum mechanical multiverse. Using the multiverse as the explanatory tool for everything from computation to time, Deutsch claims that our commonsensical view of the world is effectively an illusion. Whether you agree with him or not after reading his book, it’s guaranteed to make you think.

⭐Elvene

⭐Well written, in plain english. David makes it possible for less intelligent people, like me, to follow complex ideas and arguments. A big bonus is the humour. Very good value.

⭐A good overview of the many worlds theory of QM and a refreshingly clear explanation of the scientific method, how we know one theory is better than another and make progress – along with quite a labored discussion of virtual reality and a few other ideas about computation and evolution which the author believes are related in some way that’s not quite clear.

Keywords

Free Download The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes–and Its Implications in PDF format
The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes–and Its Implications PDF Free Download
Download The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes–and Its Implications 1998 PDF Free
The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes–and Its Implications 1998 PDF Free Download
Download The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes–and Its Implications PDF
Free Download Ebook The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes–and Its Implications