Science

The Fabric of Reality

The Fabric of Reality

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  • Create Date：2021-04-10 14:52:37
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：David Deutsch
  • ISBN：0140146903
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Summary

An extraordinary and challenging synthesis of ideas uniting Quantum Theory， and the theories of Computation， Knowledge and Evolution， Deutsch's extraordinary book explores the deep connections between these strands which reveal the fabric of realityin which human actions and ideas play essential roles。

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Reviews

Alberony Martínez ，

Como sistema de conocimientos que es la ciencia sobre la realidad que nos rodea， hablar de la realidad， y mucho más de la Estructura de la realidad， creo sentirme el menos indicados， cada quien con su conjunto de método procesal para dar una argumentación， hasta para esto hay que tener cuidado， para no encontrarme con unas pléyades de doctores en ciencia， que juzga un libro como bueno o malo， pero gustaría ver el suyo， a ver si es flores que le tiraran， y como vemos a través de este libro， la ci Como sistema de conocimientos que es la ciencia sobre la realidad que nos rodea， hablar de la realidad， y mucho más de la Estructura de la realidad， creo sentirme el menos indicados， cada quien con su conjunto de método procesal para dar una argumentación， hasta para esto hay que tener cuidado， para no encontrarme con unas pléyades de doctores en ciencia， que juzga un libro como bueno o malo， pero gustaría ver el suyo， a ver si es flores que le tiraran， y como vemos a través de este libro， la ciencia es movimiento， lo que hoy se puede afirmar， mañana podría verse esa afirmación como algo no del todo real。 Así， para realizar una recomendación respecto este libro， y más en asunto de ciencia， siempre recomiendo ir en pos de la indagación， ir más allá， y no presumir que lo que dice un escritor es falso。La lectura de La estructura de la realidad de David Deutsch es un explicación penetrante a la nueva física， y por esto， a la llamada a la física cuántica， donde su teoría se apoya en la realidad que depende de la percepción， desdibujando los bordes entre el fenómeno físico y los aspectos invisibles y abstractos del Universo durante siglos。 Este libro es un viaje por el tiempo， una interpretación sobre las computadoras cuánticas y el multiuniverso， como hace referencia en la película ‟Avengers: Endgame”。 Para el escritor， la teoría cuántica contiene nuestro conocimiento más fundamental del mundo físico。 La multiplicidad de universos resulta ser la clave para lograr una nueva visión del mundo， una que sintetice las teorías de la evolución， la computación y el conocimiento con la física cuántica。Es un excelente libro， del cual debemos ir con toda la disposición de que lo que nos dará es ciencia， no es un libro de ficción， una novela， es ciencia， es un texto que nos conecta con muchos temas en la vanguardia de la investigación y el pensamiento actual， como las computadoras cuánticas， la física de los viajes en el tiempo， la comprensibilidad de la naturaleza y los limites físicos de la realidad virtual， el significado de la vida humana y el destino final del universo。 。。。more

Filos ，

Maybe the best book ever written followed closely by The Beginning of Infinity。

Russ ，

Deutsch is the sort of forward-thinking optimist that I find both educational and inspirational。

Ryan Nicholls ，

Very good 1st 1/2 but then a little lack luster。 Some of the chapters are a little dated， but the optimism in mankind is a welcome change。

☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ ，

What do we see when we look at things we imagine are real？How real is reality？ And what is it made of？What would a frog （who seems to have particularly light-sensitive eyes） see when confronted with a light source that is placed far enough that light is getting sent to it in quants （as opposed to steady light rays）？These and other titillating mysteries are made accessible to people light years from physics by DD。Q:。。。 coherence， elegance and simplicity， as opposed to arbitrariness and complexity What do we see when we look at things we imagine are real？How real is reality？ And what is it made of？What would a frog （who seems to have particularly light-sensitive eyes） see when confronted with a light source that is placed far enough that light is getting sent to it in quants （as opposed to steady light rays）？These and other titillating mysteries are made accessible to people light years from physics by DD。Q:。。。 coherence， elegance and simplicity， as opposed to arbitrariness and complexity， though none of those things is easy to define either。 （c）Q:Again we were too parochial， and were led to the false conclusion that knowledge-bearing entities can be physically identical to non-knowledge-bearing ones; and this in turn cast doubt on the fundamental status of knowledge。 But now we have come almost full circle。 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 that is physically special。 Within one universe it looks irregular; across universes it has a regular structure， like a crystal in the multiverse。 （c）Q:Not only is there constant backtracking， but the many subproblems all remain simultaneously active and are addressed opportunistically。 （c）Q:We do not experience time flowing， or passing。 What we experience are differences between our present perceptions and our present memories of past perceptions。 We interpret those differences， correctly， as evidence that the universe changes with time。 We also interpret them， incorrectly， as evidence that our consciousness， or the present， or something， moves through time。 （c） 。。。more

Scott Burkhalter ，

Took me 3 tries to get my sea legs with this book。 David is brilliant and once I got into the swing of his prose I was able to grasp many of the concepts he shares， though I'd be hard pressed to pass them along to anyone else （my own limitation）。 Deutsch's reasoning is fascinating。 He has clarity that transforms opaque topics into digestible morsels with an eloquence that makes challenging concepts approachable。 I'll read this book a few more times。 Took me 3 tries to get my sea legs with this book。 David is brilliant and once I got into the swing of his prose I was able to grasp many of the concepts he shares， though I'd be hard pressed to pass them along to anyone else （my own limitation）。 Deutsch's reasoning is fascinating。 He has clarity that transforms opaque topics into digestible morsels with an eloquence that makes challenging concepts approachable。 I'll read this book a few more times。 。。。more

Rachel ，

Will need to read again in a year or two tk really appreciate everything in the book。

Alessandro Piovaccari ，

A fundamental pillar of knowledgeThis book is utilizes both physics and philosophy point of views to make sense of the fabric of reality， exploring many if-then scenarios， sometimes falling at the edge of sci-fi。 Even in the parts I do not agree， I found the depth of explanation excellent。 The biggest merit is certainly to bring in concepts like computability and knowledge into the picture as key elements to define reality itself。 This book it is now in my top reading list。

Clerk ，

Heavy going in places， but ultimately an optimistic and positive view of the fundamentals of reality and the future of the multiverse。 It even expounds a positive view of our role in everything as part of the intrinsic basis of reality。

Nate Lorenzen ，

#daviddeutsch’s second book #BeginningOfInfinity is perhaps my favorite non-fiction read。 This is his other book and although it is good it’s not on par with the second。 There are some fascinating chapters， Eg how shadows prove a #multiverse， but in the end it got bogged down in parts for the lay person。 If you want a deeper understanding of his points in Beginning or are interested in a more thorough exploration of induction and the multiverse then pick it up。 For the other 99% of you still rea #daviddeutsch’s second book #BeginningOfInfinity is perhaps my favorite non-fiction read。 This is his other book and although it is good it’s not on par with the second。 There are some fascinating chapters， Eg how shadows prove a #multiverse， but in the end it got bogged down in parts for the lay person。 If you want a deeper understanding of his points in Beginning or are interested in a more thorough exploration of induction and the multiverse then pick it up。 For the other 99% of you still reading this post just start with #beginningofinfinity and have your worldview changed。 。。。more

Nick Jones ，

Beginning of Infinity spoiled me。 Had I read Fabric first， the thinking would’ve seemed more profound。

ilya murychev ，

Слишком много воды。 Он использует сложную терминологию и очень сложно построенные предложения。 Утверждения квантовой теории про теневые фотоны совершенно не поддерживаемые другими физиками。Маленькая цитата， чтобы вкусить все "прелести" стиля автора:Программа в генераторе виртуальной реальности воплощает общую предсказательную теорию поведения виртуальной среды。 Остальные составляющие следят за поведением пользователя， зашифровывают и расшифровывают сенсорные данные; выполняют， как я уже сказал， Слишком много воды。 Он использует сложную терминологию и очень сложно построенные предложения。 Утверждения квантовой теории про теневые фотоны совершенно не поддерживаемые другими физиками。Маленькая цитата， чтобы вкусить все "прелести" стиля автора:Программа в генераторе виртуальной реальности воплощает общую предсказательную теорию поведения виртуальной среды。 Остальные составляющие следят за поведением пользователя， зашифровывают и расшифровывают сенсорные данные; выполняют， как я уже сказал， довольно тривиальные функции。 Таким образом， если среда физически возможна， ее передача， в сущности， эквивалентна нахождению правил предсказания результатов каждого эксперимента， который можно осуществить в этой среде。 Из-за определенного способа создания научного знания даже более точные правила предсказания можно обнаружить только через лучшие объяснительные теории。 Такая точная передача физически возможной среды зависит от понимания ее физики。 。。。more

Aleksei Uljassov ，

Закончил читать посленднию книгу， из списка из 4 книг， по рекомендации Анатолия Вассермана。 Книга крайне интересная и увликательная， автор хорошо объясняет различные темы， но под конец было тяжело читать。 А так книга достойна внимания！

Tom Hill ，

The best part of this book is when the author uses the example of a flashlight to justify the existence of multiple universes。 The worst part of the book was the rest of it。 It is obvious that this book was written more for the authors colleagues than your average lay person。 Even so， his writing style remind me of a saying my grandfather had for those you have a hard time getting right to the point。 He would say “He is the type of fella who likes to walk around the barn three or four times befo The best part of this book is when the author uses the example of a flashlight to justify the existence of multiple universes。 The worst part of the book was the rest of it。 It is obvious that this book was written more for the authors colleagues than your average lay person。 Even so， his writing style remind me of a saying my grandfather had for those you have a hard time getting right to the point。 He would say “He is the type of fella who likes to walk around the barn three or four times before going through the door”。 。。。more

Chris Marks ，

Excellent and thought provoking， even when not entirely convincing。 I have a much better understanding and appreciation of Deutsch's multiverse theory than I had based on some too brief earlier exposure。 I still don't buy it， but I greatly like some aspects of it。 Excellent and thought provoking， even when not entirely convincing。 I have a much better understanding and appreciation of Deutsch's multiverse theory than I had based on some too brief earlier exposure。 I still don't buy it， but I greatly like some aspects of it。 。。。more

Sagar ，

What exactly is Multiple universe？ How have we come to the conclusion that multiverse exist and why is it wrong to call EVERYTHING around us 'universe'？ I think this is a brilliant book from a brilliant person。 Must Read！ What exactly is Multiple universe？ How have we come to the conclusion that multiverse exist and why is it wrong to call EVERYTHING around us 'universe'？ I think this is a brilliant book from a brilliant person。 Must Read！ 。。。more

Cloé St-Cyr ，

Most difficult and complex read of the past years yet most mind blowing， positively challenging and interesting book in a long while。 This book was at the origin of many mental epiphanies but most importantly helped me if the lifelong task of mapping out my own ignorance about the origin of our knowledge and the theories that help us get closer to forms of reality。

Sean Flinchpaugh ，

Much more of a philosophy book in which one has to be fully invested in the concept of multiverses by now。 Was hoping for more grounded theory and like a lot of philosophers， sometimes he has a habit of getting so wound up in his own ideology he doesn't notice logic holes forming in his thesis。 Still a fun read， at least for the ideas。。。 Much more of a philosophy book in which one has to be fully invested in the concept of multiverses by now。 Was hoping for more grounded theory and like a lot of philosophers， sometimes he has a habit of getting so wound up in his own ideology he doesn't notice logic holes forming in his thesis。 Still a fun read， at least for the ideas。。。 。。。more

David Tate ，

Abandoned。 I may try it again sometime， but I find the tone grating and the arguments unconvincing。

Tomfoolery72 ，

Holy shit。 🤯 Mind is fucking blown。 🤯 World view is completely changed。 🤯 I’m gonna go read a couple of novels to clear my head， and then I’m gonna read this again。

Murilo Queiroz ，

What an amazing， life-changing book！ I could recommend it by its very convincing defense of the Everett's Many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics alone， or Karl Popper's Epistemology， but it's the synthesis of the four strands mentioned in the book （the other two are Darwin-Dawkins Evolution and Turing's Universal Computation） that makes this a must-read work about Philosophy of Science。 A curious anecdote: during a very interesting discussion about the books I read in 2019， in the BBQ a What an amazing， life-changing book！ I could recommend it by its very convincing defense of the Everett's Many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics alone， or Karl Popper's Epistemology， but it's the synthesis of the four strands mentioned in the book （the other two are Darwin-Dawkins Evolution and Turing's Universal Computation） that makes this a must-read work about Philosophy of Science。 A curious anecdote: during a very interesting discussion about the books I read in 2019， in the BBQ after an alumni meetup / research workshop in my alma mater， I mentioned that this year I loved Neal Stephenson's Anathem and Fall， or Dodge in Hell。 And I also said that Robert Sapolsky's Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst is one of my favorite books， because of its posture with relation to explanations， and I asked if someone could point me to books about metamodernism。 Then someone I just met told me to read The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes--and Its Implications and I confess at the beginning I didn't understand why。。。 But after finishing the book I must agree that it has a lot to do with themes of all these books， which was an amazing surprise。 。。。more

Lukasz ，

recommendation: [Bayesian Reasoning for Intelligent People]（http://tuvalu。santafe。edu/~simon/） recommendation: [Bayesian Reasoning for Intelligent People]（http://tuvalu。santafe。edu/~simon/） 。。。more

Evo Popoff ，

Super sense but super interestingthis book isn’t the easiest read and some threads he presents are hard to follow， but it’s well worth the effort。

Krystof ，

At times fascinating， but at times tedious。 Feel free to skip the tedious bits to get the great takeaways， as Deutsch himself suggests。

Robert Holt ，

A fascinating subject with brilliant science presented in a rather new scope。 The actual writing though made it hard to stay focused。 The author is clearly more versed at writing scientific papers rather than books for the general public。

Gendou ，

The nicest thing I can say about this book is that Deutsch offers his own "novel" opinions philosophy of science。 Unfortunately he's reached those opinions by collecting logical fallacies like a hoarder collects old newspapers。 He's basically a crank， having worked largely in isolation for decades， who thinks he's got a grand new theory that's underappreciated by academics。Straw ManHis favorite logical fallacy to employ is the Straw Man。 He has Plato's Dialogues style arguments with a fictional The nicest thing I can say about this book is that Deutsch offers his own "novel" opinions philosophy of science。 Unfortunately he's reached those opinions by collecting logical fallacies like a hoarder collects old newspapers。 He's basically a crank， having worked largely in isolation for decades， who thinks he's got a grand new theory that's underappreciated by academics。Straw ManHis favorite logical fallacy to employ is the Straw Man。 He has Plato's Dialogues style arguments with a fictional "Inductivist" who does a piss-poor job at countering his poor philosophy of science。Special PleadingHis second favorite is special pleading with a side of good old fashioned denial。 He simply denies the validity of other interpretations of Quantum Mechanics （QM） besides the Many Worlds Interpretation （MWI）。 He doesn't give sufficient description of other interpretations or their strengths。 For example， he's a particle chauvinist， refusing to acknowledge that quantum fields "real" and thereby dismissing all interpretations that require quantum fields （all of them except MWI） to be fully realist theories。 He counts up evidence consistent with QM and calls it proof of MWI， all while failing to mention the obvious fact that these lines of evidence point equally to all other interpretations of QM。 He does this， smugly， over and over， like a child sharing fantasy make believe， all excited because he thinks the adults in the room are actually buying it。Category ErrorAnother fallacy he falls prey to is the category error。 For example， he thinks that we can infer from the Turing Principle that there will be an Omega Point at the end of time。 It takes a lot to explain why this is wrong in detail， but suffice it to say he's got the arrow of inference backwards。 He mistakenly promoted the Turing Principle from a descriptive idea into a prescriptive law。ContradictionHis arguments often contradict well-established science， and even one another。 For example， he's got this theory of time as an order we impose on separate snapshots。 The snapshots are just "out there" and we sort them in an order from which time and the laws of physics emerge。 It's a neat idea， if you're high on drugs， but we know this is false because of General Relativity。 Later in the same chapter he "predicts" time travel is possible but you go to the future/past， but in a parallel universe。 But this contradicts his idea of snapshots wherein causality emerges from the interrelationship of snapshots。 Because there's so vanishingly few snapshots that look like someone from the future in another universe popping into existence， it's as good as forbidden by his own rules！ And can't be caused to happen by any "casual" means， because it doesn't obey the laws of QM。EquivocationHe picks a fight with Weinberg over Instrumentalism [see page 129]。 Here Weinberg is saying that， given dual interpretations of the same underlying theory， we can be instrumentalist about choosing which interpretation to use。 Deutsch argues that explanatory power of theories matter so we shouldn't feel so free to select any dual interpretation。 He wants us to pick one with the most explanatory power， not the most instrumental potential。 But here he's equivocating between how we know if a theory is true （explanatory power matters more than instrumental potential） and which interpretation of a well-supported theory to use （instrumental potential matters more than explanatory power）。This last one may be subtle， but this is his main trick for shutting down ALL COMPETING INTERPRETATIONS of quantum mechanics！ That's the core thesis of his book！And it's one big logical fallacy。 。。。more

John G ，

Eye-opening， thought-provoking， profound。 This is one of those life-changing， world-perspective-changing， how-I-think-about-defining-Reality books—they’re relatively rare and hard-to-come by， but when I do find a gem， like this one， few things bring me greater intellectual， philosophical joy。 Thank you Neal Stephenson for talking about and recommending （I think） the book on Conversations with Tyler。

Anna Bagriy ，

Прочитала эту книгу， найдя на неё отсылку в книге "Программируя Вселенную"， вдохновившись идеей， что Вселенная - это квантовый компьютер。 Было интересно почерпнуть для себя новые идеи строения Мультиверса， читать про логику и объективную правильность математики， ставя её под знак вопроса。 Но автор， преподнося свои идеи， слишком фанатично говорит об их непоколебимой истинности， отрицая и принижая другие научные теории касательно Вселенной。 Излишняя самоуверенность автора оттолкнула， но книга всё Прочитала эту книгу， найдя на неё отсылку в книге "Программируя Вселенную"， вдохновившись идеей， что Вселенная - это квантовый компьютер。 Было интересно почерпнуть для себя новые идеи строения Мультиверса， читать про логику и объективную правильность математики， ставя её под знак вопроса。 Но автор， преподнося свои идеи， слишком фанатично говорит об их непоколебимой истинности， отрицая и принижая другие научные теории касательно Вселенной。 Излишняя самоуверенность автора оттолкнула， но книга всё равно оказалась полезной и интересной。 。。。more

Ant ，

A lot of different threads to bring together into a unified whole， this is going to take some mulling over！As you’d expect from Deutsch， it’s a charming book about very deep thoughts that you feel are so well explained that you can grasp the fundamental realities of the universe！ It’s only when you come to try and explain the book to someone you are recommending it to that you realise that understanding was fleeting！ Very much worth reading and very much worth studying！

Daniel Hageman ，

Unapologetically profound。 Deutsch is a thinker who is arguably unmatched in his explanations of big ideas， particularly those that shape reality and ever increasing existence of knowledge itself。 I've never seen a more thorough defense of the Everettian interpretation of quantum mechanics， and explanation of the B-theory of time （though the term itself doesn't come up）， and a refutation of Hume's major idea （followed by many） that there exists a 'problem of induction'。 I can't say that I'm full Unapologetically profound。 Deutsch is a thinker who is arguably unmatched in his explanations of big ideas， particularly those that shape reality and ever increasing existence of knowledge itself。 I've never seen a more thorough defense of the Everettian interpretation of quantum mechanics， and explanation of the B-theory of time （though the term itself doesn't come up）， and a refutation of Hume's major idea （followed by many） that there exists a 'problem of induction'。 I can't say that I'm fully on board with every idea put forth in this work， but only for the sake that I need to better investigate the arguments， cover the further reading recommending at the end of the book， and feel I need to be able to adequately defend the ideas before I were to take them on myself。 The 'mind-warping' experience when reading through this book perhaps marks beginning of not only having your mind changed on paramount issues， but on your worldview of reality itself。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Fabric of Reality

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Fabric of Reality&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Fabric of Reality&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0