Science

The Science of Can and Can't: A Physicist’s Journey Through the Land of Counterfactuals

The Science of Can and Can't: A Physicist’s Journey Through the Land of Counterfactuals

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-05-24 03:19:05
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Chiara Marletto
  • ISBN：B08GJWFK92
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Reviews

Michele ，

Vale la pena， ogni pagina ha qualcosa di interessante。 Lo stra-consiglio。

Simon Jewell ，

I liked this remarkable book a lot。 Marletto has more than succeeded in writing a clear explanation of her ideas that is entertaining， readily accessible， informative， optimistic， exciting and fertile。I would like to have seen a bit more context normally provided by notes， references and bibliography， particularly on the relationship to systems theory。 For example， she shows how to categorize phenomena by the capabilities of the phenomena of their conditions。 Flippable， copyable phenomena can ma I liked this remarkable book a lot。 Marletto has more than succeeded in writing a clear explanation of her ideas that is entertaining， readily accessible， informative， optimistic， exciting and fertile。I would like to have seen a bit more context normally provided by notes， references and bibliography， particularly on the relationship to systems theory。 For example， she shows how to categorize phenomena by the capabilities of the phenomena of their conditions。 Flippable， copyable phenomena can make up information media。 Interoperable information media can make up a computer。 Systems analysts have long been familiar with such techniques when specifying an 'architecture' of layered abstract requirements for the physical design of 'applications' and other technology （- we sometimes jokingly call what Marletto calls 'counterfactuals'， '-ilities'， - the set of requirements like usability， reliability and recoverability， and they are an important part of the on-line， automated world we experience every day）。 As such， the book feels like it floats in a vacuum， set apart from other lines of current thinking， but that is wrong， it doesn't。Marletto conjectures that this generalised systematic counterfactual analysis can provide a more productive foundation for science， fixing the well-known issues with its laws， particularly where classical and quantum physics collide， and expanding its scope to conceptual phenomena like information and knowledge。 She proposes that her generalised method will allow us to use counterfactuals associated with information and knowledge to create new physical laws relevant to information systems and knowledge management （or， as I say， explain why established practice， discovered by other methods including the study of systems theory， already works）。 She shows that if this way of thinking is incorporated into the scientific method， these disciplines， that we have traditionally thought of as outside physics， can be studied and exploited alongside other physical systems， opening up a new realm of opportunities and possibilities。 。。。more

Tanya ，

Mind-boggling in its revolutionary simplicity。 Is there a body of math around constructor theory？ We will be watching to see where they go with this for decades to come。

Benjamin Outram ，

An interesting approach from an up-and-coming brilliant mind。 Mind expanding， and it's rare to find a new idea under the sun。 Refreshing。 An interesting approach from an up-and-coming brilliant mind。 Mind expanding， and it's rare to find a new idea under the sun。 Refreshing。 。。。more

Roger Williams ，

I enjoyed this book as much as any I have ever read on the subject， and more than most。 The publisher’s blurb introduces the author as an Englishwoman， but her name， her undergraduate studies， and the childhood and other memories mentioned in her book are of Italy。 Certainly her command of English and her literary gifts are those of a well educated native speaker。 But I suppose that could be the work of an excellent editor。 The text is beautifully articulated。 Over the years since my undergradua I enjoyed this book as much as any I have ever read on the subject， and more than most。 The publisher’s blurb introduces the author as an Englishwoman， but her name， her undergraduate studies， and the childhood and other memories mentioned in her book are of Italy。 Certainly her command of English and her literary gifts are those of a well educated native speaker。 But I suppose that could be the work of an excellent editor。 The text is beautifully articulated。 Over the years since my undergraduate studies I have been less and less interested in physics， but this book revived my interest。 It looks as if some physicists are prepared to face the frustrations and limitations of the current “received” consensus。 I shall be following the author’s career and reading her work with great interest。 。。。more

Brian Clegg ，

Without doubt， Chiara Marletto has achieved something remarkable here， though the nature of the topic does not make for an easy read。 The book is an attempt to popularise constructor theory - a very different approach to physics， which Oxford quantum physicist David Deutsch has developed with Marletto。 Somewhat oddly， the book doesn't use the term constructor theory， but rather the distinctly clumsier 'science of can and can't'。The idea is that physics is formulated in a way that is inherently l Without doubt， Chiara Marletto has achieved something remarkable here， though the nature of the topic does not make for an easy read。 The book is an attempt to popularise constructor theory - a very different approach to physics， which Oxford quantum physicist David Deutsch has developed with Marletto。 Somewhat oddly， the book doesn't use the term constructor theory， but rather the distinctly clumsier 'science of can and can't'。The idea is that physics is formulated in a way that is inherently limited because it depends on using mechanisms that follows the progress of dynamic systems using the laws of physics。 This method isn't applicable in circumstances where either something may happen， but won't necessarily， nor where something isn't allowed to happen （hence the science of can and can't， which probably should be the science of could and can't if we are going to be picky）。Deutsch and Marletto have proposed a way of using 'counterfactuals' - describing systems where such limitations apply and getting to understand their characteristics in a way that makes it possible to at least consider formulating physics anew， overcoming these limitations and， they hope， even making it possible to consider overcoming the divide between quantum physics and general relativity。The only way really to get your head around counterfactuals is through examples - for example， Marletto considers a book。 We can't use conventional physics to project its future influence on the world around it because it's a case that it could be read and that could change someone's behaviour。 One of the significant changes that the counterfactual view delivers is to bring information to the heart of the description of physical processes。All this is genuinely fascinating - it really isn't at all clear if it will ever deliver anything useful， but it is a totally different way of looking at physical systems and makes a kind of mind-boggling sideways sense。 Marletto's writing is approachable and， though I initially suspected her idea of ending each chapter with a short story would prove rather irritating - fiction with a message rarely work well - most of the stories work well。 I wish the book got going sooner - Marletto spends an inordinate time skirting around defining what counterfactuals are， and the book doesn't really get beyond the groundwork until about 50 pages in。 Oh， and it appears the proofreaders at Allen Lane don't know what the plural of 'aircraft' is。Probably because the book is an attempt to present in a hand-waving fashion what is no doubt a mathematical concept， it does seem sometimes as if the description of what's happening could be tightened up， as it can veer from the ambiguous to the downright confusing。 So， for example， in developing one of the required elements of this theory， we are given the example of an aircraft factory， where we are asked to identify the one thing that will stop the factory working properly if it is eliminated。 This， we are supposed to deduce， is the sequence of instructions for constructing the plane。 But it would seem equally possible to stop it working by preventing raw materials arriving or removing all the machinery or the workers。Elsewhere， Marletto uses common terms in ways that don't really match the way they are normally used。 Both knowledge and information medium， for example， are given new definitions。 Here， for example， a book would not be an information medium， because in the definition used you can't have a read-only information medium。 A couple of times in the book， Marletto gives a rather fan-like mention of Philip Pullman's fantasy concept of 'dust' （using it as a parallel for dark matter） - but the real fictional parallel for the whole thing is with the work of another Oxford author， Lewis Carroll。It was Carroll who had Humpty Dumpty using words to mean what Humpty wanted them to mean - and there's a distinct sense of that going on here。 In fact， because counterfactuals feel strange and intangible as a concept， I was constantly reminded of Carroll's poem， The Hunting of the Snark。 In the poem the characters are in pursuit of something really important - requiring huge effort - yet they don't really know what it is， until we get to the dark final lines: 'In the midst of a word he was trying to say， In the midst of his laughter and glee， He had softly and suddenly vanished away - For the Snark was a Boojum， you see。' I very much hope that counterfactuals are not a Boojum。 We don't know yet - but there is no doubt that the hunt is a fascinating one， just as was that for the Snark - and despite the difficulties of getting constructor theory clear in the reader's head， this book is a remarkable attempt to bring this particular Snark to life。 。。。more

David Wineberg ，

Chiara Marletto is a delight。 A theoretical physicist， she has written a book that makes it stimulating， varied， exciting and real。 Plus， it is a genuine， innovative gamechanger。 Plus， every chapter begins with a story she has made up， because her father was a fascinating storyteller。 On their daily walks， he would make up stories about anything and everything they saw along the way。 And passed this talent and tradition on。 And one more thing。 Marletto is Italian。 English is not her first langua Chiara Marletto is a delight。 A theoretical physicist， she has written a book that makes it stimulating， varied， exciting and real。 Plus， it is a genuine， innovative gamechanger。 Plus， every chapter begins with a story she has made up， because her father was a fascinating storyteller。 On their daily walks， he would make up stories about anything and everything they saw along the way。 And passed this talent and tradition on。 And one more thing。 Marletto is Italian。 English is not her first language。 All these things combine to make The Science of Can and Can’t an unexpected treasure。The issue she tackles is that physics has prescribed itself into a dead end。 Not for the first time， Man thinks he has discovered everything that is discoverable。 At the end of the 19th century， it was recommended that the patent office be shut down， as everything that could possibly be invented had already been。 Marletto faces a similar attitude in her field。 The book is her refutation of that stance， but it is not a negative one。 Instead， she has the answer。 She wants to expand the scope of physics laws and principles， by allowing the consideration of the kinds of things that could possibly be as well those that could not possibly be。 She calls them counterfactuals， and there is simply no room in dynamical laws of physics for them。 Today。 Hers is a mind-expanding exercise of great importance。 Great premise and great promise， that she pulls off beautifully。These counterfactuals are given life in every chapter， from quantum theory to quantum computers， to information and knowledge， to work and heat， and all the major laws that apply to them。 It can be a challenge to follow， so there is always a diverting short story between the chapters， a kind of amuse-bouche， or in this case， and amuse-cerveau to reset and reboot before the next intellectual leap of faith。I think I can explain her frustration this way: The universe is a big， messy thing， but physics is all about elegant， compact and streamlined， universal laws。 These contradictions and constraints can be lessened if physics were to admit counterfactual principles to the mix。 It could lead to a far better understanding of the whole universe。She explains that like everything else， physics is constantly changing， or should be。 The iron-clad laws of the 1700s， like gravity， have proven to be incorrect or at very least insufficient， and new laws have replaced them。 That the Earth was flat and the center of the universe was settled science for centuries， until those laws were replaced。 The current state of the art， quantum theory and relativity， are incompatible， and one or both of them have to go。 Soon， she hopes。 But the next level will require far more flexible thinking， and that’s where counterfactuals come in。 They expand the possibilities by reframing things in terms of what is possible， not just what can be measured。 Or that are impossible， measured or not。Marletto has set herself a monumental task， one she has been working out with David Deutsch， who it came from。 She has to explain everything from basic points， something which I suspect helped them in understanding what they were undertaking。 The result is she must explain things like information and knowledge in terms of how they work in physics。 It is not always easy， and certainly far from intuitive， but she actually makes it entertaining:“Something can hold information only if its state could have been otherwise。 A computer memory is useless if all the changes in its contents are predetermined in the factory。 The user could store nothing in it。 And the same holds if you replace ‘factory’ with the Big Bang。” For example。 Knowledge， she says， is resilient information。 It is transferable， copiable， and flippable。 For her， knowledge is the most resilient stuff that can exist in our universe。 The two known processes of creating knowledge are by conjecture and criticism in the mind， and by variation and natural selection in the wild。 For Marletto， physics laws are no-design laws。 The randomness of evolution and natural selection rule the universe， and there is no overall scheme behind them。 They do not revert to the mean so much as keep changing。 Only elementary particles are unchanging。 So physicists focus on them， the building blocks of everything else。 But the deeper physics looks at them， the more it appears inadequate to describe and compartmentalize them。 Reductionism is a curse in physics as much as it is （probably better known） in medicine。But because of scientists’ insistence on measuring everything and putting it away forever， they have instead discovered that some elemental particles don’t want to be measured， or refuse to be measured， or can’t be measured if their location is known。 Physics is waking up to the fact that sleek universal laws are neither。 And it seems to be stuck there， awaiting release。Readers will have to cut her some slack， too。 Her examples can stretch credulity。 In her discussion of knowledge， she conjures the existence of a hard drive that is full and that cannot be erased （we used to call these ROMs， read-only memory chips， and we used to joke about WOMs， write-only chips that could accept changes but could never be read。 Government systems seemed to run on these。 But I digress。） These vehicles cannot be carriers of information， because they cannot be copied or flipped， she says。 But in practically the next breath， she cites vinyl discs （LPs） as sources of information。 Spot the difference？ Neither could I。 But if you want to understand information and knowledge as they factor in theoretical physics， you have to go along。The book is as wide-ranging as any good philosophy text。 It touches on free will vs。 determinism， ancient Greek myths， Aristotle teaching Alexander， and a grumpy old Italian woman fixing a game so Marletto would have to help on the farm。 This is not the daily-bread physics 101 text that made you hate physics。 And she has a story about that， too。Marletto saves the big guns for the end， where she reframes the second law of thermodynamics in terms of counterfactuals。 She takes 30 pages to do it， bashing it from every conceivable angle so that counterfactuals become the obvious saviors to a system crippled by its self-regulation and restrictions， patching over inconsistencies and the inexplicables。 She says counterfactuals do a far better job describing it and making it work。 I leave it to theoretical physicists to agree or disagree。 But she makes the sale for me。 Marletto is a great new voiceDavid Wineberg 。。。more