Wednesday, October 04, 2006

God's Debris by Scott Adams

I chanced upon an e-book written by Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert. This is by no means a comic book, nor is it humourous; on the contrary, it seems to be some sort of philosophical fiction written to get you thinking about existential stuff.

The author says that the e-book is "emphatically not for everyone". If you don't like your perceptions challenge, he says, this is not for you. It's a thought experiment, he says. I've taken to reading it, albeit slowly and cautiously. I believe his warning is that it could rock your faith, or strengthen it.

You can download the e-book here for free.

This is an excerpt of the synopsis for your cautious perusal.

Jasmine and Lizhu, this is exactly the type of book you'd relish.

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Synopsis

Imagine that you meet a very old man who—you eventually realize—knows literally everything. Imagine that he explains for you the great mysteries of life—quantum physics, evolution, God, gravity, light, psychic phenomenon, and probability—in a way so simple, so novel, and so compelling that it all fits together and makes perfect sense. What does it feel like to suddenly understand everything? God's Debris isn’t the final answer to the Big Questions. But it might be the most compelling vision of reality you will ever read. The thought experiment is this: Try to figure out what’s wrong with the old man’s explanation of reality. Share the book with your smart friends then discuss it later while enjoying a beverage.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I read God's Debris a few days ago, and have just recommended it on my weblog http://lackofsound.blogspot.com/. Quite an interesting thought-experiment, isn't it? Largely borrowed from Buddhism and what not - and sometimes logically and factually wrong - but that doesn't mean it's not worth reading. After all, it's for free. Has it changed any of your fundamental beliefs? :D