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Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation
- Why Physicists Are Studying Human Consciousness and AI to Unravel the Mysteries of the Universe
- Narrated by: Alan Peterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
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Publisher's summary
"This is a delightful account of one of the deepest and most fascinating explorations going on today at the frontier of our knowledge."—Carlo Rovelli, bestselling author of The Order of Time and Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
A revelatory exploration of how a "theory of everything" depends upon our understanding of the human mind
The whole goal of physics is to explain what we observe. For centuries, physicists believed that observations yielded faithful representations of what is out there. But when they began to study the subatomic realm, they found that observation often interferes with what is being observed—that the act of seeing changes what we see. The same is true of cosmology: our view of the universe is inevitably distorted by observation bias. And so whether they’re studying subatomic particles or galaxies, physicists must first explain consciousness—and for that they must turn to neuroscientists and philosophers of mind.
Neuroscientists have painstakingly built up an understanding of the structure of the brain. Could this help physicists understand the levels of self-organization they observe in other systems? These same physicists, meanwhile, are trying to explain how particles organize themselves into the objects around us. Could their discoveries help explain how neurons produce our conscious experience?
Exploring these questions and more, George Musser tackles the extraordinary interconnections between quantum mechanics, cosmology, human consciousness, and artificial intelligence. Combining vivid descriptions with portraits of scientists working on the cutting edge, Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation shows how theories of everything depend on theories of mind—and how they might be one and the same.
A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Critic reviews
"The renowned science writer George Musser has taken on one of our time’s greatest issues: AI, how it works, and what makes it so powerful. This masterfully written book shows a surprising connection with theoretical physics.”—Max Tegmark, professor at MIT and bestselling author of Life 3.0 and Our Mathematical Universe
"George Musser is one of my favorite science writers of all time. Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation is an important book that will inform both the future of physics and the philosophy of mind.”—Annaka Harris, bestselling author of Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind
“Electrifying . . . Musser explores the fascinating ways in which scientists are studying the physics of the mind . . . Musser has a talent for distilling complex science into accessible language . . . Lucid and endlessly intriguing, [Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation] will expand readers’ minds.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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At the end of his career, Albert Einstein was pursuing a dream far more ambitious than the theory of relativity. He was trying to find an equation that explained all physical reality - a theory of everything. Experimental physicist and award-winning educator Dr. Don Lincoln takes you on this exciting journey in The Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality. Suitable for the intellectually curious at all levels and assuming no background beyond basic high-school math, these 24 half-hour lectures cover recent developments at the forefront of particle physics and cosmology.
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Audible’s Best Science Offering, A Gem
- By MikeB on 12-08-18
By: Don Lincoln, and others
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Welcome to the Universe
- An Astrophysical Tour
- By: Michael A. Strauss, J. Richard Gott, Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
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Welcome to the Universe is a personal guided tour of the cosmos by three of today's leading astrophysicists. Inspired by the enormously popular introductory astronomy course that Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott taught together at Princeton, this book covers it all - from planets, stars, and galaxies to black holes, wormholes, and time travel.
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All About What We Know About the Universe - ALL
- By J.B. on 02-17-17
By: Michael A. Strauss, and others
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Letters from an Astrophysicist
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Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has attracted one of the world’s largest online followings with his fascinating, widely accessible insights into science and our universe. Now, Tyson invites us to go behind the scenes of his public fame by unveiling his candid correspondence with people across the globe who have sought him out in search of answers. In this hand-picked collection of 100 letters, Tyson draws upon cosmic perspectives to address a vast array of questions about science, faith, philosophy, life, and of course, Pluto.
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Dear Neil...
- By Tina G. on 10-14-19
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Zombified: Real-World Lessons from Fictional Apocalypses
- By: Athena Aktipis, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Athena Aktipis
- Length: 2 hrs and 33 mins
- Original Recording
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Athena Aktipis of Arizona State University is a self-professed apocalypse enthusiast, and as the host of the podcast Zombified, she knows the undead inside and out. With Zombified: Real-World Lessons from Fictional Apocalypses, she’s compiled her research and insights into a fascinating Audible Original that will have you thinking deeper about all those shambling, brain-hungry corpses in pop culture—not to mention our everyday lives. Drawing on years of research on zombies and zombification, these six lessons offer a fun way to explore and understand the many forces that influence us.
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Good attempt, lackluster execution
- By R. MCRACKAN on 10-14-23
By: Athena Aktipis, and others
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The Quantum Universe
- (And Why Anything That Can Happen, Does)
- By: Brian Cox, Jeff Forshaw
- Narrated by: Samuel West
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
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In The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw approach the world of quantum mechanics in the same way they did in Why Does E=mc2? and make fundamental scientific principles accessible - and fascinating - to everyone.The subatomic realm has a reputation for weirdness, spawning any number of profound misunderstandings, journeys into Eastern mysticism, and woolly pronouncements on the interconnectedness of all things. Cox and Forshaw's contention? There is no need for quantum mechanics to be viewed this way.
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Not suitable as an audio book
- By SPN on 03-29-22
By: Brian Cox, and others
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The Last Season
- By: Eric Blehm
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
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Destined to become a classic of adventure literature, The Last Season examines the extraordinary life of legendary backcountry ranger Randy Morgenson and his mysterious disappearance in California's unforgiving Sierra Nevada - mountains as perilous as they are beautiful. Eric Blehm's masterful work is a gripping detective story interwoven with the riveting biography of a complicated, original, and wholly fascinating man.
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Well Written Character Study of an NPS Ranger
- By Kathy in CA on 06-23-16
By: Eric Blehm
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Breaking the Spell
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For all the thousands of books that have been written about religion, few until this one have attempted to examine it scientifically: to ask why - and how - it has shaped so many lives so strongly. Is religion a product of blind evolutionary instinct or rational choice? Is it truly the best way to live a moral life? Ranging through biology, history, and psychology, Daniel C. Dennett charts religion’s evolution from “wild” folk belief to “domesticated” dogma.
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Great Reader Actually Enhances A Great Book!
- By Don Caliente on 07-14-14
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In 1939, Richard Feynman, a brilliant graduate of MIT, arrived in John Wheeler's Princeton office to report for duty as his teaching assistant. A lifelong friendship and enormously productive collaboration was born, despite sharp differences in personality. The soft-spoken Wheeler, though conservative in appearance, was a raging nonconformist full of wild ideas about the universe. The boisterous Feynman was a cautious physicist who believed only what could be tested. Yet they were complementary spirits.
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What listeners say about Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- @DrCarlHoffman
- 11-15-23
This is a great book to stimulate your thinking
I am a process theologian that claims the God of the Bible is found in quantum mechanics. I have written a non-published book on the subject. This book affirmed my thinking that the vagaries of quantum physics allows God to act. I highly recommend this book.
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-24-23
A comprehensive update on the today’s intersection between physics and philosophy.
This is an exciting and fast flowing update on how today’s physical sciences  have come to a point where they must tackle notions of perception, consciousness, and ‘mind’ in order to make meaningful progress. In a thorough review and comparison of leading theories across a variety of scientific domains, including neural networks, quantum mechanics, time and space, evolution of complex systems and philosophy of mind, Musser effectively demonstrates a need for a new type of thinking that draws from different scientific domains and accounts for the role that we ourselves play as an integral part of the ‘whole’ picture that science aims to describe. I highly recommend this read to anyone curious enough to dive into the deep-end of where theoretical physics, philosophy and theories of consciousness meet as of Nov. 2023.
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- Oliver
- 01-17-24
Strong Start, Discursive Ending
This book brings together the standard references in Consciousness Studies, but through the lense of physics. the first few chapters were very lucid, and it felt like they were laying the foundation for a clear thesis. Unfortunately, several chapters in the middle felt barely relevant, and then the end came rather abruptly. Overall, it was a strong effort to bring together diverse sources on consciousness. I enjoyed the ride, but was disappointed when the book failed to present a thesis or a call to action. The field is becoming crowded with books that digress at the end. Nobody expects an author to "solve" the Hard Problem, but it's still fair to ask for a clear conclusion.
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- Spider-guy
- 11-19-23
Sure-footed guide on a misty path
The best of several recent books on what we sentient beings must be made of. Lacks a nod to How the Hippies Saved Physics, but for a hint near the end at cosmic conversations with neural nets.
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