The Beginning of Infinity
"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 book that will become a classic of its kind"
Stats for nerds
77recommend
145mentions
91people
2009–2026years
72% recommend28% neutral1% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- The concept of the "end of the exponential" sounds like a tech version of Fukuyama's much mocked "End of History". Amodei seems to think we’ll solve all the "useful" problems and then hit a ceiling of utility.
But if you’ve read David Deutsch’s The Beginning of Infinity, Amodei’s view looks like a mistake. Knowledge creation is unbounded. Solving diseases/coding shouldn't result in a plateau, but rather unlock totally new, "better" problems we can't even conceive of yet.
It's the begining of Inifinity, no end in sight!
- I was first exposed to Popper in my first year in university, in an introductory course to epistemology, and I liked him right away. I've carried Refutability and the Paradox of Tolerance with me ever since.
By the way David Deutsch could be reasonably said to be Popper's biggest fan. If you're interested in Deutsch and Popper you could do worse than picking up "The Beginning of Infinity" to get acquainted with both, it's a great book.
- There is one. Don't destroy the means of error correction. Without that, no further means of moral development can occur. So, that becomes the highest moral imperative.
(It's possible this could be wrong, but I've yet to hear an example of it.)
This idea is from, and is explored more, in a book called The Beginning of Infinity.
- The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch is in same category. I have not finished reading it yet, at best i go 5 pages in one sitting. Jam packed with fascinating facts.
- If you like books, read The Beginning of Infinity. If you don't, I can't help! I wish there were something I could point to online, but nothing really encapsulates the lessons I took from that book. Yes, I'll have to write that thing one day.
- I am not sure about being the best, but one book that really felt special and still does is :
- The beginning of infinity by David Deutsch.
This book really ignited my love for epistemology in general, and the nature of scientific progress and understanding.
Another notable book for me :
Finite and infinite games by James Carse.
I find the book fascinating if only because the concept the author is describing is both intuitive and counter - intuitive at the same time.
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