Book Summaries

This is the main page containing book summaries. The links to the sub-pages are shown below:

The following is an Internet-only book by Jim Horgan, a writer for Scientific American and an avid fan of mind-body problems. I have not read his books (but I have read some [many?] of his articles.)

While I have mixed feelings about his writing, especially his critiques of famous researchers, I do think it is worthwhile to read his stuff, especially as he provides background and explicatory comments that the original author may not.

I especially recommend Chapter 4 of his Mind-Body Problems, from which this quote is taken:

Inspired by these ideas, Kauffman, together with Smolin, conjectured that reality is fundamentally unpredictable and creative. “Einstein starts with a pre-stated configuration space, a block universe,” Kauffman said. “What if that's not how it happens? What if, from loop quantum gravity, the universe builds itself, but you can’t say what it’s going to build until it builds itself?” The universe “is not an is. It’s a becoming.” Kauffman constructed a non-deterministic metaphysics based not on probability—the key concept of quantum mechanics—but on possibility. The switch makes causation looser, allowing for more wriggle room. Causation becomes akin to enablement.

The Complexologist: Tragedy and Telepathy

From there, you will also be able to find the table of contents and the rest of his book. The above chapter deals with Stuart Kauffmann, of whom I want to learn more about.