The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
By: Paul C.W. Davies
4.04
Format: 320 pages, Hardcover
'A gripping new drama in science ... if you want to understand how the concept of life is changing,…
Want to Read $ 12.99"Network theory confirms the view that information can take on 'a life of its own'. In the yeast network my colleagues found that 40 per cent of node pairs that are correlated via information transfer are not in fact physically connected; there is no direct chemical interaction. Conversely, about 35 per cent of node pairs transfer no information between them even though they are causally connected via a 'chemical wire' (edge). Patterns of information traversing the system may appear to be flowing down the 'wires' (along the edges of the graph) even when they are not. For some reason, 'correlation without causation' seems to be amplified in the biological case relative to random networks."-Paul C.W. Davies, The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
"Network theory confirms the view that information can take on 'a life of its own'. In the yeast network my colleagues found that 40 per cent of node pairs that are correlated via information transfer are not in fact physically connected; there is no direct chemical interaction. Conversely, about 35 per cent of node pairs transfer no information between them even though they are causally connected via a 'chemical wire' (edge). Patterns of information traversing the system may appear to be flowing down the 'wires' (along the edges of the graph) even when they are not. For some reason, 'correlation without causation' seems to be amplified in the biological case relative to random networks."-Paul C.W. Davies, The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
"To conclude: time doesn’t pass. (I hope the reader is now convinced!) Well, what does pass, then? I shall argue that it is the conscious awareness of the fleeting self that changes from moment to moment. The misconception that time flows or passes can be traced back to the tacit assumption of a conserved self. It is natural for people to think that ‘they’ endure from moment to moment while the world changes because ‘time flows’. But as Alice remarked in Lewis Carroll’s story, ‘It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.’ Alice was right: ‘you’ are not the same today as you were yesterday. To be sure, there is a very strong correlation – a lot of mutual information, to get technical about it – between today’s you and yesterday’s you – a thread of information made up of memories and beliefs and desires and attitudes and other things that usually change only slowly, creating an impression of continuity. But continuity is not conservation. There are future yous correlated with (that is, observing) future states of the world, and past yous correlated with (observing) past states of the world. At each moment, the you appropriate to that world-state interprets the correlation with that state as ‘now’. It is indeed ‘now’ for ‘that you’ at ‘that time’. That’s all! The flow-of-time phenomenon reveals ‘the self’ as a slowly evolving complex pattern of stored information that can be accessed at later times and provide an informational template against which fresh perceptions can be matched. The illusion of temporal flow stems from the inevitable slight mismatches."-Paul C.W. Davies, The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
"To conclude: time doesn’t pass. (I hope the reader is now convinced!) Well, what does pass, then? I shall argue that it is the conscious awareness of the fleeting self that changes from moment to moment. The misconception that time flows or passes can be traced back to the tacit assumption of a conserved self. It is natural for people to think that ‘they’ endure from moment to moment while the world changes because ‘time flows’. But as Alice remarked in Lewis Carroll’s story, ‘It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.’ Alice was right: ‘you’ are not the same today as you were yesterday. To be sure, there is a very strong correlation – a lot of mutual information, to get technical about it – between today’s you and yesterday’s you – a thread of information made up of memories and beliefs and desires and attitudes and other things that usually change only slowly, creating an impression of continuity. But continuity is not conservation. There are future yous correlated with (that is, observing) future states of the world, and past yous correlated with (observing) past states of the world. At each moment, the you appropriate to that world-state interprets the correlation with that state as ‘now’. It is indeed ‘now’ for ‘that you’ at ‘that time’. That’s all! The flow-of-time phenomenon reveals ‘the self’ as a slowly evolving complex pattern of stored information that can be accessed at later times and provide an informational template against which fresh perceptions can be matched. The illusion of temporal flow stems from the inevitable slight mismatches."-Paul C.W. Davies, The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
If you liked the philosophy plot in The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life by Paul C.W. Davies , here is a list of 14 books like this:
1. The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood
By: James Gleick
4.03
Format: 527 pages, Hardcover
James Gleick, the author of the best sellers Chaos and Genius, now brings us a work just as astonis… read more
Want to ReadSimilar categories in James Gleick's The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- technology
- philosophy
- nonfiction
- popular science
- science
"At the end of 2006, people concerned with the “Cat"-James Gleick, The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood
"Vengeful conquerors burn books as if the enemy's souls reside there, too."-James Gleick, The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood
"Before Newton the English word gravity denoted a mood—seriousness, solemnity…."-James Gleick, The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood
"Everything we care about lies somewhere in the middle, where pattern and randomness interlace."-James Gleick, The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood
2. The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
By: Ray Kurzweil
3.93
Format: 652 pages, Paperback
“Startling in scope and bravado.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times “Artfully envisions a breatht… read more
Want to Read $ 12.99Similar categories in Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- science
- biology
- evolution
- artificial intelligence
- philosophy
- nonfiction
- technology
"Play is just another version of work"-Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
"Hoewel we de illusie hebben dat we beelden met hoge resolutie ontvangen van onze ogen, stuurt de oogzenuw slechts contouren en aanwijzingen over interessante punten in ons blikveld naar het brein. We…"-Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
"We cannot rely on trial-and-error approaches to deal with existential risks… We need to vastly increase our investment in developing specific defensive technologies… We are at the critical stage toda…"-Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
"Fredkin [...] praat over een interessant kenmerk van computerprogramma's, waaronder cellulaire automaten: er is geen kortere route mogelijk naar wat de uitkomst wordt. Dit is het wezenlijke verschil …"-Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
3. Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies
By: Nick Bostrom
3.50
Format: 192 pages, Hardcover
Superintelligence asks the questions: What happens when machines surpass humans in general intellig… read more
Want to ReadSimilar categories in Nick Bostrom's Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- technology
- artificial intelligence
- philosophy
- nonfiction
- science
4. I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
By: Ed Yong
4.18
Format: 368 pages, Hardcover
Every animal, whether human, squid, or wasp, is home to millions of bacteria and other microbes. Ma… read more
Want to Read $ 15.99Similar categories in Ed Yong's I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- biology
- evolution
- nonfiction
- popular science
- nature
- science
"I was struck by how different everything seemed with microbes in mind."-Ed Yong, I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
"The brutal contract of natural selection ensures that if one partner is unnecessary, it gets dumped."-Ed Yong, I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
"As palaeontologist Andrew Knoll once said, "Animals might be evolution's icing, but bacteria are really the cake."-Ed Yong, I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
"There’s a popular saying among doctors: There’s no such thing as alternative medicine; if it works, it’s just called medicine."-Ed Yong, I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
5. Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality
By: None
3.36
Format: 317 pages, Hardcover
Our Mathematical Universeis a journey to explore the mysteries uncovered by cosmology and to discov… read more
Want to ReadSimilar categories in None's Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- philosophy
- nonfiction
- popular science
- physics
- science
6. What Is Life? with Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches
By: Roger Penrose , Erwin Schrödinger
3.78
Format: 288 pages, Paperback
What Is Life? is a 1944 non-fiction science book written for the lay reader by physicist Erwin Schr… read more
Want to ReadSimilar categories in Roger Penrose's What Is Life? with Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
7. The Vital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life
By: Nick Lane
3.86
Format: 336 pages, Paperback
The Earth teems with life: in its oceans, forests, skies and cities. Yet there's a black hole at th… read more
Want to ReadSimilar categories in Nick Lane's The Vital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
8. A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains
By: Max Solomon Bennett
4.46
Format: 432 pages, Hardcover
Equal parts Sapiens , Behave, and Superintelligence , but wholly original in scope, A Brief History… read more
Want to Read $ 17.99Similar categories in Max Solomon Bennett's A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- technology
- biology
- artificial intelligence
- nonfiction
- science
9. The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes
By: Donald D. Hoffman
3.86
Format: 272 pages, Hardcover
Can we trust our senses to tell us the truth? Challenging leading scientific theories that claim th… read more
Want to Read $ 9.99Similar categories in Donald D. Hoffman's The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- biology
- evolution
- philosophy
- nonfiction
- physics
- science
"Once we know the rules that human vision uses to decode messages about fitness, we can use those rules to send the messages we want. Consider jeans."-Donald D. Hoffman, The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes
10. Existential Physics: A Scientist's Guide to Life's Biggest Questions
By: Sabine Hossenfelder
3.92
Format: 269 pages, Kindle Edition
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “An informed and entertaining guide to what science can and cannot t… read more
Want to Read $ 16.99Similar categories in Sabine Hossenfelder's Existential Physics: A Scientist's Guide to Life's Biggest Questions book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- philosophy
- nonfiction
- popular science
- physics
- science
"Sometimes the only scientific answer we can give is 'We don't know."-Sabine Hossenfelder, Existential Physics: A Scientist's Guide to Life's Biggest Questions
"Today I think they don't teach the principle of least action in school because then everybody would go and study physics."-Sabine Hossenfelder, Existential Physics: A Scientist's Guide to Life's Biggest Questions
"There are no exact metaphors, not for quantum mechanics and not for anything else, because if they were exact, they wouldn't be metaphors."-Sabine Hossenfelder, Existential Physics: A Scientist's Guide to Life's Biggest Questions
"Instead of thinking of ourselves as selecting possible futures, I suggest we remain curious about what's to come and strive to learn more about ourselves and the universe we inhabit."-Sabine Hossenfelder, Existential Physics: A Scientist's Guide to Life's Biggest Questions
11. The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect
By: Judea Pearl
3.95
Format: 432 pages, Hardcover
A Turing Award-winning computer scientist and statistician shows how understanding causality has re… read more
Want to Read $ 13.99Similar categories in Judea Pearl's The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- technology
- artificial intelligence
- philosophy
- nonfiction
- science
"Scientists should seek shielded mediators whenever they face incurable confounders."-Judea Pearl, The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect
"skepticism has its place. Statisticians are paid to be skeptics; they are the conscience of science."-Judea Pearl, The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect
"Fighting for the acceptance of Bayesian networks in AI was a picnic compared with the fight I had to wage for causal diagrams [in the stormy waters of statistics]."-Judea Pearl, The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect
"[T]he cultural shocks that emanate from new scientific findings are eventually settled by cultural realignments that accommodate those findings—not by concealment. A prerequisite for this realignment…"-Judea Pearl, The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect
12. Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI
By: Ethan Mollick
4.13
Format: 243 pages, Kindle Edition
**A New York Times Bestseller**'Co-Intelligence is the very best book I know about the ins, outs, a… read more
Want to Read $ 15.99Similar categories in Ethan Mollick's Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- science
- nonfiction
- artificial intelligence
- technology
13. What Is ChatGPT Doing... and Why Does It Work?
By: Stephen Wolfram
3.91
Format: 141 pages, Kindle Edition
Nobody expected this—not even its creators: ChatGPT has burst onto the scene as an AI capable of wr… read more
Want to Read $ 7.99Similar categories in Stephen Wolfram's What Is ChatGPT Doing... and Why Does It Work? book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- technology
- artificial intelligence
- nonfiction
- popular science
- science
14. What Is Real?: The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics
By: Adam Becker
4.27
Format: 384 pages, Hardcover
The untold story of the heretical thinkers who dared to question the nature of our quantum universe… read more
Want to Read $ 12.99Similar categories in Adam Becker's What Is Real?: The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- science
- philosophy
- nonfiction
- popular science
- physics
- technology
"Science, done right, works hard to respect absolutely no authority at all other than experience and empirical data. It never succeeds entirely, but it comes closer and has a better track record than …"-Adam Becker, What Is Real?: The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics
"Philosophy has an image problem. Philosophers are thought to be mystics, religious figures, bullshit artists—anything divorced from reality... Why is philosophy held in such contempt by many physicis…"-Adam Becker, What Is Real?: The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics
15. Beyond Weird
By: Philip Ball
4.11
Format: 384 pages, Hardcover
'This is the book I wish I could have written but am very glad I've read' Jim Al-Khalili ‘I thin… read more
Want to Read $ 9.99Similar categories in Philip Ball's Beyond Weird book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- philosophy
- nonfiction
- popular science
- physics
- nature
- science
"Quantum theory had the strangest genesis,"-Philip Ball, Beyond Weird
"[C]lassical physics is just a special case of quantum physics."-Philip Ball, Beyond Weird
"Cabe decir que los genios tienen más posibilidades de incurrir en el error que la media."-Philip Ball, Beyond Weird
"Creer que el genio conlleva estar libre de error es malinterpretar la naturaleza de la creatividad y el entendimiento."-Philip Ball, Beyond Weird
16. Some Assembly Required: Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA
By: Neil Shubin
4.14
Format: 267 pages, Hardcover
In Some Assembly Required, Neil Shubin takes readers on a journey of discovery spanning centuries, … read more
Want to Read $ 12.99Similar categories in Neil Shubin's Some Assembly Required: Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- biology
- evolution
- nonfiction
- nature
- science
17. Notes on Complexity: A Scientific Theory of Connection, Consciousness, and Being
By: Neil Theise
4.02
Format: 224 pages, Hardcover
An electrifying introduction to complexity theory, the science of how complex systems behave—from c… read more
Want to Read $ 9.99Similar categories in Neil Theise's Notes on Complexity: A Scientific Theory of Connection, Consciousness, and Being book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- philosophy
- nonfiction
- popular science
- physics
- nature
- science
18. The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
By: Paul C.W. Davies
4.04
Format: 320 pages, Hardcover
'A gripping new drama in science ... if you want to understand how the concept of life is changing,… read more
Want to Read $ 12.99Similar categories in Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- science
- biology
- evolution
- artificial intelligence
- philosophy
- nonfiction
- popular science
- physics
- nature
- technology
"Network theory confirms the view that information can take on 'a life of its own'. In the yeast network my colleagues found that 40 per cent of node pairs that are correlated via information transfer…"-Paul C.W. Davies, The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
"To conclude: time doesn’t pass. (I hope the reader is now convinced!) Well, what does pass, then? I shall argue that it is the conscious awareness of the fleeting self that changes from moment to mom…"-Paul C.W. Davies, The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
"More radically, how can we be sure that the source of consciousness lies within our bodies at all? You might think that because a blow to the head renders one unconscious, the ‘seat of consciousness’…"-Paul C.W. Davies, The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
19. The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI
By: Ray Kurzweil
3.93
Format: 432 pages, Hardcover
The noted inventor and futurist’s successor to his landmark book The Singularity Is Near explor… read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- technology
- artificial intelligence
- philosophy
- nonfiction
- science
20. On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything
By: Nate Silver
3.84
Format: 576 pages, Hardcover
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Signal and the Noise, the definitive guide to our… read more
Want to Read $ 18.99Similar categories in Nate Silver's On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- philosophy
- science
- nonfiction
- technology
21. Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI
By: Yuval Noah Harari
4.11
Format: 528 pages, Hardcover
For the last 100,000 years, we Sapiens have accumulated enormous power. But despite all our discove… read more
Want to Read $ 15.99Similar categories in Yuval Noah Harari's Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI book and Paul C.W. Davies's The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
- technology
- artificial intelligence
- philosophy
- nonfiction
- science
