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The Beginning Of Infinity: Explanations That Transform The World (2011)

by David Deutsch(Favorite Author)

4 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0670022756 (ISBN13: 9780670022755)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Viking Adult

review 1: I read the majority of this book (281 pages of about 470) and that was more than enough for me. It's true: there is some original thought herein. It's also true that the author couldn't possibly care less for the pleasure of his readers. It seemed that he went wandering on long needless tedious self-indulgent tangents that did little to ellucidate his supporting points. His main idea? The vital importance of good explanations? Well, Deutsch failed spectacularly at explaining said explanations. Moreover, he seemed to eviscerate what value one could find in the fields that he dabbled in along the way. This book could have been //so much better//, if he had an editor who forced him to //write//. Not fuck around aimlessly, but actually use that big brain of his to communicate ... morehis big ideas. In the end, I felt disrespected. As if my time was unimportant and all that mattered was that his little flights of fancy were indulged. Deutsch desperately needs a strong editor who can pluck out the tantalizing bits of his tender thought and who can explain to him that he should treat readers as guests at his table not vermin at his dumpster!
review 2: Despite some of its shortcomings, this book is among the pristine list of 'life changers' for me. I would say that many of its chapters are an important read to people who like to consider themselves rational. It talks about the nature of ideas, what makes some objectively good and others objectively bad, and how to tell the difference, and it uses this criterion to examine various popular philosophical and scientific claims, including some of the author's own ideas.The chapter about quantum physics, which diverged from the philosophy of science theme of the book into the realms of popular science was not well executed; I've read more coherent texts on the matter, and on top of that it was thoroughly laced with the author's strong convictions, which were hard to accept on face value as they are not the prevailing scientific convictions at the moment. Forgiving that, the rest of the book is a delight; it seems to jump from subject matter to subject matter on every chapter, so you're never bored and can always look forward to a brand new discussion. In retrospect the author uses which discussion enhance the vocabulary of ideas on which he builds his next argument.Totally worth the read, and its content will no doubt will keep me pondering for a while. less

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