The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes--and Its Implications
David Deutschamazon.com
The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes--and Its Implications
We can see that the ancient idea that living matter has special physical properties was almost true: it is not living matter but knowledge-bearing matter
High-level phenomena about which there are comprehensible facts that are not simply deducible from lower-level theories are called emergent phenomena.
A reductionist thinks that science is about analysing things into components. An instrumentalist thinks that it is about predicting things.
Facts cannot be understood just by being summarized in a formula, any more than by being listed on paper or committed to memory. They can be understood only by being explained. Fortunately, our best theories embody deep explanations as well as accurate predictions.
understanding is one of the higher functions of the human mind and brain, and a unique one. Many other physical systems, such as animals’ brains, computers and other machines, can assimilate facts and act upon them. But at present we know of nothing that is capable of understanding an explanation – or of wanting one in the first place – other than
... See moreSo when a cosmic-ray particle strikes a DNA strand and causes a mutation, some of its counterparts in other universes are missing their copies of the DNA strand altogether, while others are striking it at different positions, and hence causing different mutations. Thus a single cosmic-ray strike on a single DNA molecule will in general cause a larg
... See moreI shall assume that the ‘laws of physics’ include an as yet unknown rule determining the initial state or other supplementary data necessary to give, in principle, a complete description of the multiverse (otherwise these data would be a set of intrinsically inexplicable facts). In that case, an environment is physically possible if and only if it
... See moreQuantum theory is, as I have said, one such theory. But the other three main strands of explanation through which we seek to understand the fabric of reality are all ‘high level’ from the point of view of quantum physics. They are the theory of evolution (primarily the evolution of living organisms), epistemology (the theory of knowledge) and the t
... See moreIn fact, burning fuel is only one of many things a spaceship has to do to accomplish its real purpose, which is to transport its payload from one point in space to another.