The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations that Transform the World
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- Create Date：2021-06-25 08:54:20
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：David Deutsch
- ISBN：0140278168
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Summary
In our search for truth， how far have we advanced？ This uniquely human quest for good explanations has driven amazing improvements in everything from scientific understanding and technology to politics， moral values and human welfare。 But will progress end， either in catastrophe or completion - or will it continue indefinitely？
In this profound and seminal book， David Deutsch explores the furthest reaches of our current understanding， taking in the Infinity Hotel， supernovae and the nature of optimism， to instill in all of us a wonder at what we have achieved - and the fact that this is only the beginning of humanity's infinite possibility。
In this profound and seminal book， David Deutsch explores the furthest reaches of our current understanding， taking in the Infinity Hotel， supernovae and the nature of optimism， to instill in all of us a wonder at what we have achieved - and the fact that this is only the beginning of humanity's infinite possibility。
Reviews
Kody
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I don't think one ever truly finishes this book。 I don't think one ever truly finishes this book。 。。。more
Nader
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Few books I’ve read have called into question as many long-standing beliefs。 He is relentless in his persuasiveness。 A slow read if you want to really take it in。 I wish it was a little more concise
Tim
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t“There is indeed an objective difference between a false explanation and a true one， between chronic failure to solve a problem and solving it， and also between wrong and right， ugly and beautiful， suffering and its alleviation - and thus between stagnation and process in the fullest sense。”tThere is so much that is good about this book。 I focused a lot on philosophy of science when in college and it was possibly my favorite area in philosophy。 This book was recommended by Naval Ravikant on his t“There is indeed an objective difference between a false explanation and a true one， between chronic failure to solve a problem and solving it， and also between wrong and right， ugly and beautiful， suffering and its alleviation - and thus between stagnation and process in the fullest sense。”tThere is so much that is good about this book。 I focused a lot on philosophy of science when in college and it was possibly my favorite area in philosophy。 This book was recommended by Naval Ravikant on his podcast as a book that changed the way he thought and looked at the world。 I would definitely say the same thing。 I feel that in a way it is what I always believed but could not express。 His idea that we are always looking for better solutions that create more problems that lead to better explanations through creativity and innovation and conjecture and criticism is so spot on。 He is an optimist and， after reading this， so am I。 We really are just at the beginning of human progress and it is exciting to think of what we can discover。 tThere were some parts that （as a non-scientist especially） were a little difficult to understand。 The quantum computing chapter in particular。 It would take more than one reading and quite possibly someone explaining it in person to really grasp。 tI cannot recommend this book enough even if only to read certain chapters。 But the entire books is amazing。 。。。more
Mark Broadhead
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Thought experiments that seemingly go beyond infinity。
Kristian Herger
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If you want a book that you cannot speed read， If you want a book that makes it hard for you to resist the urge to go through it too quickly， if you want a book that challenges your entire world view and what you thought is true， if you want a book that leaves you with this infinitely open feeling that what there is to come will be good。Do yourself a favor and spend some time with “the Beginning of Infinity”。
Chris
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What did I just read？
Francisco
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As a top down thinker this book is a huge confirmation bias for me，on the other side it could use better flow and aim for simplicity in presenting the point。
Majolo
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A wide ranging book， largely on philosophy of science but with dips into aesthetics and social choice theory （I did not expect a discussion of apportionment paradoxes！）。
Dora Tolstoy
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The most difficult， yet rich book I have ever read。 I think it's safe to say that it has and will continue to change my thinking for ever。 I'm happy to announce that I am now officially a rational optimist， or at least， will always strive to be one。 Thank you， David！ The most difficult， yet rich book I have ever read。 I think it's safe to say that it has and will continue to change my thinking for ever。 I'm happy to announce that I am now officially a rational optimist， or at least， will always strive to be one。 Thank you， David！ 。。。more
Iskander Iskakov
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This book is a masterpiece。 Would love to re-read it。
Rick Howard
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I’m on Chapter 5 of the Deutsch book。 Struggling …。 he is so ponderous。 From Goodreads reviewers that have the same impression that I do:: Really appreciate his rational optimism but does it have to be written in such a boring way？: The author is prideful and arrogant and really rather strange， But he is good at explaining bizarro physics concepts that are on the surf: Who knew that the beginning of infinity was also the start of boring， I mean really， what a crappy way to have to spend infinity I’m on Chapter 5 of the Deutsch book。 Struggling …。 he is so ponderous。 From Goodreads reviewers that have the same impression that I do:: Really appreciate his rational optimism but does it have to be written in such a boring way？: The author is prideful and arrogant and really rather strange， But he is good at explaining bizarro physics concepts that are on the surf: Who knew that the beginning of infinity was also the start of boring， I mean really， what a crappy way to have to spend infinity。My daughter and I are fans of Christoper Nolan （Batman Trilogy， Inception， Tenet … ） When we finished Inception， we went racing to the interwebs to find explanations because we were fascinated and intrigued by the concepts。 When we finished Tenet， we had the opposite reaction。 We were sure that Nolan’s time travel mechanics worked， but it felt like assigned homework to figure it out。 We were not intrigued。That’s how I feel about this guy。All of these are compelling ideas， but it was a slog to get to them。 It shouldn’t have to be a slog even if the material is dense。 A lesson to learn there。 。。。more
Aaron Green
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This stuff is more abstract than a Rothko。 I have no idea what the dude is talking about。。。
Valia （beingshelfaware）
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Good read if you're interested in physics and theories， though it has more than that as well。 Good read if you're interested in physics and theories， though it has more than that as well。 。。。more
Katherine Marten
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This book y'all。。。。 It is so long but incredibly in-depth。 It goes over literally everything。 Philosophy， biology， astronomy， physics， and everything in between。 I think my favorite part was the infinity hotel。 Imagine a hotel with infinite rooms and infinite guests。 How would that hotel operate？ What about new guests arriving in infinite trains。 How do you take out the trash？ All the answers can be found here。Talk about exercise for the brain， this is a marathon。 It's a dense read， but well wor This book y'all。。。。 It is so long but incredibly in-depth。 It goes over literally everything。 Philosophy， biology， astronomy， physics， and everything in between。 I think my favorite part was the infinity hotel。 Imagine a hotel with infinite rooms and infinite guests。 How would that hotel operate？ What about new guests arriving in infinite trains。 How do you take out the trash？ All the answers can be found here。Talk about exercise for the brain， this is a marathon。 It's a dense read， but well worth it。 。。。more
Dominik Fijaś
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Brilliant。 10/10
James Mackey
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I found the book a bit dry。 You get the gist of the book in the first few chapters， and then it's just iterating on that。 I found the book a bit dry。 You get the gist of the book in the first few chapters， and then it's just iterating on that。 。。。more
Muneeb Ahmad
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The book opens with an innocent remark that knowledge creation is a product of human creativity as opposed to empiricism or inductivism and takes off from there。 The author defines a good explanation as the one that can be tested and is hard to vary。 E。g Scientific theories。 With the example of change in seasons， the author differentiates between the scientific explanation（tilted axis） and the ancient myth（something about a God being angry。。。Not testable， easy to vary）The central theme is that w The book opens with an innocent remark that knowledge creation is a product of human creativity as opposed to empiricism or inductivism and takes off from there。 The author defines a good explanation as the one that can be tested and is hard to vary。 E。g Scientific theories。 With the example of change in seasons， the author differentiates between the scientific explanation（tilted axis） and the ancient myth（something about a God being angry。。。Not testable， easy to vary）The central theme is that we are at the beginning of infinity， that anything not prohibited by laws of physics will come to be（rather can be）。 That knowledge has no bounds。 And all problems are solvable。 It is an optimistic view and the author doesn't shy away from accepting that。 Rather he proudly declares that pessimism is what hinders the creation of knowledge， if optimism overestimates our capability to overcome problems， pessimism make sure we never do。The author goes on to say all our problems come（or came） from ignorance。 As an example， what keeps humans from dying from extreme conditions which would easily have killed our ancestors is the knowledge that we have not just created but passed on over generations。 E。g Knowledge to create fire。Essentially information/knowledge is passed on in two ways: Genes （biological replicators） and Memes（ideas that are replicators）。 And so begins the commentary on culture， creativity， creation， objective truth（or beauty）etcHonestly， it is impossible to write the gist of the book。 I lack the intellectual depth to thread all the ideas together。 It was a fun read and yet another book that I will be reading again。 。。。more
C。A。
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Alright， so this took me forever to finish。 It's that kind of book。 I also can't say that I understood all of it， but what I did get made me think。 Deutsch's point， problems will always exist。 No matter how much you try， fix one thing， it brings up another problem。 That's life， but， problems are SOLVABLE。 And the purpose of solving them is to come up with explanations that are not easily broken， that are scaleable。 He goes into a lot of different topics trying to make this point， and it takes aw Alright， so this took me forever to finish。 It's that kind of book。 I also can't say that I understood all of it， but what I did get made me think。 Deutsch's point， problems will always exist。 No matter how much you try， fix one thing， it brings up another problem。 That's life， but， problems are SOLVABLE。 And the purpose of solving them is to come up with explanations that are not easily broken， that are scaleable。 He goes into a lot of different topics trying to make this point， and it takes awhile to find the thread， but it's there。 Still， worth the trip。 。。。more
Lewis Smyth
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Challenging and thought-expanding。 Some chapters （Quantum entanglement） went over my head。。。but as Deutsch says ‘Problems are inevitable。 All problems are soluble’。 Searching for the next challenging read。
Ha Tran Nguyen Phuong
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This is a long， interdisciplinary， philosophical book on why we ought to believe that progress is infinitely possible when we commit to have good explanations。 I feel refreshingly more optimistic about the future （including sustainability， which has a whole chapter dedicated to it） after reading。
Spencer
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very intellectually stimulating full of brilliant ideas （and unfortunately also lots of bold theories that are weakly supported）。 chapters 6， 9， and 10 are mindblowing and a few other chapters are solid， but at least half of the book was frustrating to read because the ideas were big and important but DD treated them too narrowly （he'd say "parochially"）。 for a book whose central theme is the imperfection human knowledge， it's strange that he expounds so confidently on a wide range of topics， of very intellectually stimulating full of brilliant ideas （and unfortunately also lots of bold theories that are weakly supported）。 chapters 6， 9， and 10 are mindblowing and a few other chapters are solid， but at least half of the book was frustrating to read because the ideas were big and important but DD treated them too narrowly （he'd say "parochially"）。 for a book whose central theme is the imperfection human knowledge， it's strange that he expounds so confidently on a wide range of topics， often surprisingly superficially。 。。。more
Gaurav Singh
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Good explanations create knowledge and drive progress。
Ankit Singh
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Not revisiting this book again in one's lifetime would be doing oneself much injustice。 Not revisiting this book again in one's lifetime would be doing oneself much injustice。 。。。more
April
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A few thought-provoking bits scattered amongst a lot of rambling and winding arguments that I didn’t feel proved much of anything。
Fedor Ragin
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SotA научного （да и вообще） мышления。
Martha Barghusen Foster
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Fascinating ideas in this book， but a little dry in places， and hard to plow through。 Overall a great book。
Patrick Voigt
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Easily one of the most interesting， thought provoking， and insightful books I've read。 Definitely a book to put in the "reread" pile。 Easily one of the most interesting， thought provoking， and insightful books I've read。 Definitely a book to put in the "reread" pile。 。。。more
Akhil Jain
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My fav quotes （not a review）:-Page 24 |"I think that there is only one way to science – or to philosophy， for that matter: to meet a problem， to see its beauty and fall in love with it; to get married to it and to live with it happily， till death do ye part – unless you should meet another and even more fascinating problem or unless， indeed， you should obtain a solution。"-Page 388 "It is a mistake to conceive of choice and decision-making as a process of selecting from existing options according My fav quotes （not a review）:-Page 24 |"I think that there is only one way to science – or to philosophy， for that matter: to meet a problem， to see its beauty and fall in love with it; to get married to it and to live with it happily， till death do ye part – unless you should meet another and even more fascinating problem or unless， indeed， you should obtain a solution。"-Page 388 "It is a mistake to conceive of choice and decision-making as a process of selecting from existing options according to a fixed formula。 That omits the most important element of decision-making， namely the creation of new options。" 。。。more
Phil
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I really enjoyed this book。 I believe it’s because I agree with David’s techno-optimist view of the future， but also because this book introduces a lot of new and interesting ideas very quickly。 Some of those ideas I’d encountered before。 A few I disagreed with。 But I really enjoyed the process， especially later in the book， of being introduced to a new and interesting idea in each chapter。I’d never been introduced to Karl Popper’s thinking and philosophy， so I enjoyed the early parts of the boo I really enjoyed this book。 I believe it’s because I agree with David’s techno-optimist view of the future， but also because this book introduces a lot of new and interesting ideas very quickly。 Some of those ideas I’d encountered before。 A few I disagreed with。 But I really enjoyed the process， especially later in the book， of being introduced to a new and interesting idea in each chapter。I’d never been introduced to Karl Popper’s thinking and philosophy， so I enjoyed the early parts of the book。 Seeing knowledge and science and the success of the human race through the lens of better and better explanations will stay with me for a long time。I’ve always been a many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics doubter， but this book continued my softening towards that view。 David’s explanation starts with the fertile ground of movies and stories that play with the idea of another world out there with just one thing changed。 But it moved on quickly from there。 I still want to seek out other arguments for the many worlds interpretation before calling myself convinced。I just have to recommend the book。 There’s so many great ideas in here。 。。。more
Keven Wang
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