I "read" the book. Though the math was utterly beyond me, I think I got the gist. I can't really say that I completely understand since, obviously, the devil is in the details. As they they are mostly mathematic, my opinions are essentially worthless.
My impression, however, is that the book provokes more questions than it answers. I didn't find the logic behind the suggestion that we are the only life form around compelling at all.
I think the suggestion that our universe is the ultimate result of a black hole and that there are billions of such black holes opening and expanding like soap bubbles on a bucket may have merit, in which case the likelihood that we are simply a statistical anomaly, like the chimp who given enough time typed Hamlet, is significantly increased.
The notion that we will end up a Neumann machine and eventually account for all bits of information anywhere and everywhere is, well, psychedelic, to put it mildly. But who knows--perhaps we are some other civilization's Neumann progeny. A crude civilization, I would add, but one that mastered the basics--intelligence and replication.
Interesting read, though. Thanks for suggesting it. |
