chess 36, 114, 118, 136, 157
choice 326–52
apportionment paradoxes 326–33
decision-making and social choice see decision-making
devising an electoral system 338–40
social-choice theory 335, 337–8, 342–3, 345, 352
applied to an individual mind 340–41
voters’ 342
cholera 207
Churchill, Winston 201, 333
cimenti 14
civilization
Athenian 216–18, 224–5, 229–33, 244–51, 246
of Easter Island 418, 419–23, 430–31
extra-terrestrial civilizations 202–4
Florentine 218–20
optimism and 208–22
pessimism and 196–203
Polynesian 419, 421, 427
present and pre-Enlightenment 204
Spartan 218, 230–33, 244–51
survival 62–3, 196–7, 202, 204–5, 206–8
vulnerability of 201, 202–3, 207–8, 436; see also disasters, natural
see also societies
climate change 437–41
Cold War 196, 205, 428
Colossus computers 139
common sense 266
mistaken 5, 26, 82, 122, 262, 279, 280, 340, 397, 403
see also reason
complementarity, principle of 308–9
complexity see simplicity and complexity
computer programs 36, 115–18, 129, 414
AI see artificial intelligence
chess 114, 118, 157
evolutionary algorithms 160
and the simulation argument 453–5
computers/computation 36, 60, 95, 107, 119, 194
analogue 140
Analytical Engine 136–8, 139, 140
Colossus 139
coloured displays 434
computational universality 135–42, 189, 191
computer science and mathematical proof 184
connection between physics and computation 189–92
Difference Engine 135–6
DNA computer 145
ENIAC 139
Hofstadter’s domino computer 115–17, 118
and physics 187, 189–92, 295–6
programs see computer programs
quantum computation 187, 295–6
and the silicon chip 139
and the simulation argument 453–5
supercomputer simulation predictions 439
Conan Doyle, Arthur 10
Condorcet, Nicolas de 66
configurational entities 266–7
conformity 7, 217, 218, 231, 382, 402, 413
Congress, US, apportionment 326–33
conjecture 2, 9, 10, 17, 26, 78, 239–40
and abstractions 119
creative 412
and criticism 192, 239–40, 412; see also criticism
mathematical 185–6, 191–3
memes as conjectural explanations 412
conjuring tricks 10, 14–16, 17, 18–19, 29, 41, 79, 82, 113, 155, 214, 315, 324, 410
and measurement 40, 229
visions, perception and 229, 241–2
consciousness 153–4, 157, 162–3, 318, 415
test for judging claims to have understood 154
consent 155, 266, 343
conspicuous consumption 433
constants of nature see physics, constants of
Constitution, US 335
and apportionment paradoxes 326–33
constructors, universal 58–60, 62, 76, 429
Continental Enlightenment 65–6, 313
continuum 43, 140–2, 159, 164, 181, 274, 298, 450
infinity of the 164, 170, 182, 195
control 45, 55–6, 62, 69–71, 88, 111, 130, 134–9, 159, 241–2, 384, 391–2, 415, 459
convergence
between Spaceship Earth and the Principle of Mediocrity 45, 53
convergent evolution 95
and error correction 350
upon the truth 231, 257, 350, 368
Conway, John 166
Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory 308–10, 312, 315, 322, 324, 325
copying
memes not replicated by imitation 402–10
replicators see memes; replicators
cork 72–4
correspondence 39, 241
of theories with objective truth 353
one-to-one 167, 170, 171–2, 181, 193
tallying 128, 129, 130–31, 134, 140–41, 193, 356
cosmic rays 68, 293–4
cosmic significance see significance
cosmology 68, 81, 113, 445, 450–53
evolutionary cosmologies 178–9
see also astrophysics
cow, size of 35
creation of knowledge 78–105
and the argument from design 83–7
impeded by bad philosophy 305–25, 448
causing convergence 350
creationism and 79–81, 104
about environments 74–5
and error correction 140–2, 147, 271, 302
ex nihilo 104, 345
fine-tuning of the universe and 96–103, 104, 106
as a transition process from problems to better problems 446–7
Lamarckism and 87–9
and the limitation on predictability 104, 193, 197–8, 212
neo-Darwinism and 89–96
not affected by distance 275, 427
open-ended/unbounded vii, 60–65, 66, 67, 69, 81, 146, 165, 175, 450–52
optimism and 196–222, 431
requirements for 61
spark for 75
spontaneous generation and 81–3
creationism 79–81, 86, 104, 193
fine-tuning as supposed evidence for 97
and spontaneous generation 82
see also Paley, William
creativity 30
artificial 148–63; see also artificial intelligence (AI)
artistic 355–7; see also aesthetics
creative conjecture 412; see also conjecture
creatively changing the options 351
in discovering new explanations 7–8
as an evolutionary process in the brain 373
evolution of 398–400, 402–15, 416
future of 415–16
mutual enhancement of meme transmission and 400
needed to improve explanations 342
puzzle of what use it was in non-innovating cultures 398–402, 410–15
and scientific toil 41, 355–6
as a hideous joke played on humans 416
criterion of demarcation (Popper) 14 see also testability
criticism 114, 119, 233
conjecture and 58, 192, 203, 239–40, 352, 412
immunity from 230–3, 310, 316, 324, 325, 346, 347
suppressed by anti-rational memes 391, 393
by testing see experimental testing
tradition of 13, 23, 31–3, 209, 216, 220, 231, 308, 390, 431
as variation of information 78
crystals 83
liquid 434
cubes, notional, in space 47, 66–8, 74–5
cultural evolution 369–97
and the biosphere–culture analogy 371–2
and dynamic societies 387–8, 424
the Enlightenment 390–93
ideas that survive 369–72
living with memes 394–6
meme evolution 372–8, 400, 413
rational and anti-rational memes 388–90
the selfish meme 378–9, 387
and static societies 380, 383–6, 414
subcultures 393
cultural relativism 314, 356
culture 397 see also cultural evolution
cures 11, 153, 213, 272, 422, 437, 455
curvature of spacetime 107, 112, 183–4, 312, 450
dark energy 451
dark matter 36, 46, 67
Darwin, Charles 80, 82, 87, 91
D
arwin, Erasmus 87, 88
Darwinian theory 80, 89
Marx on 371
neo-Darwinism 89–96, 103, 104–5
refutation possibilities 95–6
data 15, 18, 210, 315, 323
Dawkins, Juliet 353, 362
Dawkins, Richard 52–3, 56–7, 92, 93, 279
argument from personal incredulity 164
Haldane–Dawkins ‘queerer-than-we-can-suppose’ argument 53, 56, 59, 81
death 48, 63, 69, 436, 453, 459
elimination of 63, 213, 455
evil of 213
fear of 84
decision-making 335
conventional model of 341
democratic 344–5; see also voting
and Popper’s criterion of ridding ourselves of bad governments without violence 344–51, 352
and problem solving 341–2
social-choice theory and 335, 337–8, 342–3, 345
society-wide planning and 335–51
by weighing 340–42
decoherence 285, 303
deconstructionism 314
deduction 5
deep space 47–8, 66–9, 71–2, 293
deforestation 418, 420–21, 422
Demeter 19–21, 24, 26
democracy 217, 250, 333, 335
democratic decision-making in elections 344–5
see also voting; plurality voting 346–50
Dennett, Daniel 117, 154
design 44, 125, 131, 139, 144, 155, 159–162, 201, 357, 367
appearance of 44, 50, 84–6, 87, 97, 98, 106, 357, 363–4
Paley’s criterion for 85–7
argument from 83–7
creationism and designers 43, 49, 51, 73, 79–81, 97
in the laws of physics 96–103
determinism 277, 287, 371
deterministic laws 263, 265, 267, 268, 270, 275, 276, 279, 305
Deutsch, David, The Fabric of Reality 109–10, 450, 460
diagonal argument 170–71, 172
Diamond, Jared 425–9, 430, 442
dictatorship see tyranny
meaning of ‘dictator’ in Arrow’s theorem 343
no-dictator axiom 336
Difference Engine 135–6
Difference Engine, The (Gibson and Sterling) 137
differentiation
calculus 164
of histories in a multiverse 273–5, 276–9, 287–8
decoherence and 285
interference and 283–7, 291, 293
rate of growth of distinct histories 287; see also waves of differentiation
digital technology 139–42
dinosaurs 162, 315
disasters, natural 42, 49, 63, 200, 202, 206–7
discrete variables 128, 140, 142, 274, 305, 450
discrete/continuous dichotomy 140, 142, 274, 298, 450
disease 59, 63, 196, 200, 213, 294, 385, 437
Black Death 208, 385, 437
cholera 207
cures 11, 153, 213, 272, 422, 437, 455
pandemics/epidemics 196, 208, 418, 436; see also Black Death above
DNA 56–7, 62, 67, 78, 95, 162, 375, 376
computer 145
damage 294
and the genetic code’s jump to universality 143–6, 162–3
in pollen 360
dogmas/dogmatism 13, 23, 26, 66, 122, 445, 447
domino computer (Hofstadter) 115–17, 118, 185, 358
doomsday argument 455–6
doppelgangers 258, 263–4, 265, 270–72
Doyle, Arthur Conan 10
Dragon’s Egg (Forward) 97
dream
hallucination 301
Popperian epistemology taught in a ‘dream of Socrates’ 223–54
reality and experience as a waking dream 241–2, 252–3
drugs 317–18
Easter Island 418–24, 430–31
economic forecasts 371, 437, 439
ecosystems
artificial/virtual 68
see also biosphere
Eden, Garden of 52, 63
Edison, Thomas 36, 41, 158, 341
see also inspiration/perspiration
education 123, 203–4, 210, 217–18, 230–31, 244, 247, 252, 254, 311, 377–8, 382, 389, 391, 392, 393, 400, 409, 431, 435
academic knowledge 4, 255, 369, 393, 446
because I say so 311, 391–2, 395
moral 230–31
university 34–6, 158, 255, 308, 309, 403, 406, 409, 433, 446
see also fun; Popper on instruction
Ehrlich, Paul 431–2, 440
Einstein, Albert 60, 104, 113, 255, 256, 307, 310, 312, 446–7, 451
curved space and time 183–4
explanation of planetary motion 112, 113
general theory of relativity 29, 61, 107, 312
and the problem of quantum gravity 449–50
special theory of relativity 199
Elbot program 151, 156
electoral systems 338–40
and democratic decision-making 344–5
plurality voting system 346–50
see also proportional representation
electron(s) 70, 108, 289–91, 293, 294, 298, 324, 454
field 291
microscope 39
elegance 3, 25, 32, 42, 94, 199, 355, 367, 387
elementary particles see particles, elementary
elements
ancient theory of 14
formation of 1, 2, 40, 50, 61–2, 96
Eliza program 148–9, 161
see also chatbots
emergence 104, 108–11, 118–19, 123, 156, 292, 302–3, 305, 395
causation as emergent 118
Hofstadter’s ‘I’ and 115–18
levels of emergence and of explanation 114, 116, 118, 123, 124, 130, 141, 293, 373, 444, 459
and reductionism 109–10
emotions 154, 356, 384, 389
empiricism 4–29, 32, 119, 122, 155, 165, 311–12, 358, 361, 411
and the deceptiveness of the senses 8, 14, 301
failed to eliminate authority 8–10; see also justificationism
the falseness of 7–8, 32, 39, 120, 209–10, 403
and the history of ideas 311–12, 314–16, 325, 345, 354
Horgan’s misconceptions based on 448
and inductivism 5–7
and instrumentalism 15
mistaken idea of theory-free observation 39
salutary role 13, 311
see also knowledge
end-of-the-world prophet 14, 21–2; see also Malthusian prophetic fallacy
energy 267, 361, 439
dark 451
and fungibility 267, 298
gravitational 3, 450
law of conservation of 109
needed for knowledge creation 61–2, 146
of photons in different universes 297–8
quantized 274, 291, 298, 433
solar 50, 66, 74
Engels, Friedrich 426, 428, 430, 442
ENIAC (computer) 139
Enlightenment, the 31
British 65–6;
and progress 12–14, 22–3, 29, 32–3, 65–6, 133, 203, 390–91
and the scientific revolution 12, 14, 23, 32, 53
and universality 133–4
and the evolution of memes 390–93
mini-enlightenments 23, 31, 216–21
and our view of the Earth 443
utopian (Continental) 65–6, 313
entanglement 284–5, 293, 295, 296–7, 303, 308
entanglement information 281, 289–90, 307
protection of qubits from 295
time as an entanglement phenomenon 299
environment see biosphere
epidemics/pandemics 196, 208, 418, 436
see also Black Death
epistemology 225, 412
and ‘a dream of Socrates’ 226–43, 245, 252–3
empiricism see empiricism
inductivism 5–7
see also knowledg
e
equivocation 309, 318, 325, 448
Eratosthenes of Cyrene 443, 458
error correction 94, 136, 140–42, 147, 192, 209, 210, 211, 222, 271, 302, 322, 323, 328, 389, 395, 409, 411–12
and convergence 350
requires digital information 140–42
in plurality voting 348
and universality 147
see also fooling ourselves
Euclid
Euclidean space 164, 183
theory of geometry 42, 183, 184
Euripides 216
europium 433, 434
Everett, Hugh 310
interpretation of quantum theory 310
evidence 22, 25, 27–8, 39, 49, 73, 75, 103
circumstantial 10
as an essential requirement for knowledge creation 61, 67
we are inundated with 61–2, 66
literally within arm’s reach 62
in philosophy 209
of our senses 4
is the same throughout the universe 62, 67–9
evils 199–200, 212, 213, 221, 319, 395, 435
evil of death 213
problem of evil 80, 199
evolution 48–9, 52
artificial 158–63
and attraction 360–65
co-evolution 360–62, 400, 414–15
convergent 95
of creativity see creativity: evolution of
of culture see cultural evolution
Darwinian 105
of the human species 48, 55, 394, 412–13
and knowledge 77, 78–105
natural selection 52, 56, 78, 87,
not necessarily adaptive 91
of non-explanatory knowledge 94
‘survival of the fittest’ 91, 371
see also adaptation; Lamarckism
evolutionary cosmologies 178–9
ex nihilo creation 104, 345
see also regress, infinite
expectations 4, 17–19
experience, sensory see sensory experience
experimental testing 13–14, 26
essence of 16–18
falsification through 26
Galileo and 14
principle of testability 14, 26, 111
explanationless theories 15, 16, 158, 210, 316, 318–19, 320–23, 325
see also philosophy, bad; inexplicability; rules of thumb
explanations 30
of abstractions 114–24
bad (easy to vary) 19–22, 25–6, 29, 31, 53–4, 64, 80, 83, 97, 101–2, 150, 154, 174, 199–200, 260, 264, 282, 311, 324
and bad philosophy 311–25
are conjectural 2, 9, 10, 17, 26, 191–3
creating new problems 64, 76, 350, 422
creativity and 7–8, 342
and decision-making 341
discrete options between 342
and elegance 355
evolution of explanatory theories 94
falsified 26
good (hard to vary) vii, 6, 24, 25, 28, 31, 78–9, 94, 156, 209, 257, 306, 341, 342, 353
and imagination 26, 264–5
imitation and 410
instrumentalist conception of 13
The Beginning of Infinity Page 56