The Island of Knowledge : The Limits of Science and the Search for Meaning

Marcelo Gleiser The Island of Knowledge The Limits of Science and the Search for Meaning Basic Books (2014) Cover......Page 2 Title Page......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Dedication......Page 7 Contents......Page 8 Prologue: The Island of Knowledge......Page 13 PART I: The Origin of the World and the Nature of the Heavens......Page 23 1 THE WILL TO BELIEVE......Page 26 2 BEYOND SPACE AND TIME......Page 30 3 TO BE, OR TO BECOME? THAT IS THE QUESTION......Page 35 4 LESSONS FROM PLATO’S DREAM......Page 42 5 THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF A NEW OBSERVATIONAL TOOL......Page 52 6 CRACKING OPEN THE DOME OF HEAVEN......Page 63 7 SCIENCE AS NATURE’S GRAND NARRATIVE......Page 68 8 THE PLASTICITY OF SPACE......Page 73 9 THE RESTLESS UNIVERSE......Page 78 10 THERE IS NO NOW......Page 83 11 COSMIC BLINDNESS......Page 87 12 SPLITTING INFINITIES......Page 99 13 ROLLING DOWNHILL......Page 106 14 COUNTING UNIVERSES......Page 111 15 INTERLUDE: A PROMENADE ALONG THE STRING LANDSCAPE......Page 120 16 CAN WE TEST THE MULTIVERSE HYPOTHESIS?......Page 127 PART II: From Alchemy to the Quantum: The Elusive Nature of Reality......Page 135 17 EVERYTHING FLOATS IN NOTHINGNESS......Page 138 18 ADMIRABLE FORCE AND EFFICACY OF ART AND NATURE......Page 142 19 THE ELUSIVE NATURE OF HEAT......Page 151 20 MYSTERIOUS LIGHT......Page 156 21 LEARNING TO LET GO......Page 165 22 THE TALE OF THE INTREPID ANTHROPOLOGIST......Page 172 23 WHAT WAVES IN THE QUANTUM REALM?......Page 176 24 CAN WE KNOW WHAT IS REAL?......Page 184 25 WHO IS AFRAID OF QUANTUM GHOSTS?......Page 195 26 FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS......Page 197 27 CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE QUANTUM WORLD......Page 206 28 BACK TO THE BEGINNING......Page 218 PART III: Mind and Meaning......Page 224 29 ON THE LAWS OF HUMANS AND THE LAWS OF NATURE......Page 227 30 INCOMPLETENESS......Page 237 31 SINISTER DREAMS OF TRANSHUMAN MACHINES: OR, THE WORLD AS INFORMATION......Page 242 32 AWE AND MEANING......Page 259 Acknowledgments......Page 264 Notes......Page 266 Bibliography......Page 284 Index......Page 289 Do all questions have answers? How much can we know about the world? Is there such a thing as an ultimate truth? To be human is to want to know, but what we are able to observe is only a tiny portion of what's "out there." In The Island of Knowledge , physicist Marcelo Gleiser traces our search for answers to the most fundamental questions of existence. In so doing, he reaches a provocative conclusion: science, the main tool we use to find answers, is fundamentally limited. These limits to our knowledge arise both from our tools of exploration and from the nature of physical reality: the speed of light, the uncertainty principle, the impossibility of seeing beyond the cosmic horizon, the incompleteness theorem, and our own limitations as an intelligent species. Recognizing limits in this way, Gleiser argues, is not a deterrent to progress or a surrendering to religion. Rather, it frees us to question the meaning and nature of the universe while affirming the central role of life and ourselves in it. Science can and must go on, but recognizing its limits reveals its true mission: to know the universe is to know ourselves. Telling the dramatic story of our quest for understanding, The Island of Knowledge offers a highly original exploration of the ideas of some of the greatest thinkers in history, from Plato to Einstein, and how they affect us today. An authoritative, broad-ranging intellectual history of our search for knowledge and meaning, The Island of Knowledge is a unique view of what it means to be human in a universe filled with mystery. The Island of Knowledge The origin of the world and the nature of the heavens. The will to believe ; Beyond space and time ; To be, or to become? That is the question ; Lessons from Plato's dream ; The transformative power of a new observational tool ; Cracking open the dome of heaven ; Science as nature's Grand Narrative ; The plasticity of space ; The restless universe ; There is no now ; Cosmic blindness ; Splitting infinities ; Rolling downhill ; Counting universes ; Interlude : a promenade along the string landscape ; Can we test the multiverse hypothesis? From alchemy to the quantum : the elusive nature of reality. Everything floats in nothingness ; Admirable force and efficacy of art and nature ; The elusive nature of heat ; Mysterious light ; Learning to let go ; The tale of the intrepid anthropologist ; What waves in the quantum realm? ; Can we know what is real? ; Who is afraid of quantum ghosts? ; From whom the bell tolls ; Consciousness and the quantum world ; Back to the beginning Mind and meaning. On the laws of humans and the laws of nature ; Incompleteness ; Sinister dreams of transhuman machines, or, The world as information ; Awe and meaning. "Do all questions have answers? How much can we know about the world? Is there such a thing as an ultimate truth? To be human is to want to know, to understand our origins and the meaning of our lives. In The Island of Knowledge, physicist Marcelo Gleiser traces our search for answers to the most fundamental questions of existence, the origin of the universe, the nature of reality, and the limits of knowledge. In so doing, he reaches a provocative conclusion: science, the main tool we use to find answers, is fundamentally limited. As science and its philosophical interpretations advance, we are often faced with the unsettling recognition of how much we don't know. Limits to our knowledge of the world arise both from our tools of exploration and from the nature of physical reality: the speed of light, the uncertainty principle, the second law of thermodynamics, the incompleteness theorem, and our own limitations as an intelligent species. Our view of physical reality depends fundamentally on who we are and on how we interact with the cosmos"-- Provided by publisher Why discovering the limits to science may be the most powerful discovery of allHow much can we know about the world? In this book, physicist Marcelo Gleiser traces our search for answers to the most fundamental questions of existence, the origin of the universe, the nature of reality, and the limits of knowledge. In so doing, he reaches a provocative conclusion: science, like religion, is fundamentally limited as a tool for understanding the world. As science and its philosophical interpretations advance, we face the unsettling recognition of how much we don't know. Gleiser shows that by aband