Is the Universe a Hologram?: Scientists Answer the Most Provocative Questions

by Adolfo Plasencia, Tim O'Reilly (Foreword by)

Overview

Questions about the physical world, the mind, and technology in conversations that reveal a rich seam of interacting ideas.

Science today is more a process of collaboration than moments of individual “eurekas.” This book recreates that kind of synergy by offering a series of interconnected dialogues with leading scientists who are asked to reflect on key questions and concepts about the physical world, technology, and the mind. These thinkers offer both specific observations and broader comments about the intellectual traditions that inform these questions; doing so, they reveal a rich seam of interacting ideas.

The persistent paradox of our era is that in a world of unprecedented access to information, many of the most important questions remain unsolved. These conversations (conducted by a veteran science writer, Adolfo Plasencia) reflect this, with scientists addressing such issues as intelligence, consciousness, global warming, energy, technology, matter, the possibility of another earth, changing the past, and even the philosophical curveball, “is the universe a hologram?”

The dialogues discuss such fascinating aspects of the physical world as the function of the quantum bit, the primordial cosmology of the universe, and the wisdom of hewn stones. They offer optimistic but reasoned views of technology, considering convergence culture, algorithms, “Beauty ≠ Truth,” the hacker ethic, AI, and other topics. And they offer perspectives from a range of disciplines on intelligence, discussing subjects that include the neurophysiology of the brain, affective computing, collaborative innovation, and the wisdom of crowds.

Conversations with
Hal Abelson, Ricardo Baeza-Yates, John Perry Barlow, Javier Benedicto, José Bernabéu, Michail Bletsas, Jose M. Carmena, David Casacuberta, Yung Ho Chang, Ignacio Cirac, Gianluigi Colalucci, Avelino Corma, Bernardo Cuenca Grau, Javier Echeverria, José Hernández-Orallo, Hiroshi Ishii, Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, Henry Jenkins, Anne Margulies, Mario J. Molina, Tim O'Reilly, John Ochsendorf, Paul Osterman, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Rosalind W. Picard, Howard Rheingold, Alejandro W. Rodriguez, Israel Ruiz, Sara Seager, Richard Stallman, Antonio Torralba, Bebo White, José María Yturralde

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262535250
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	03/09/2018
Series:	The MIT Press
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 16.90(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Adolfo Plasencia, a blogger, writer, and columnist on science and technology, hosted the Spanish television program Tecnópolis for more than six years. With his colleague Douglas Morgenstern, he cofounded the MITUPV Exchange, a joint initiative of MIT and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV).

Henry Jenkins is Provost's Professor of Communication, Journalism and Cinematic Arts at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California. He is the coeditor of From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games (MIT Press, 1998).

Hal Abelson is Class of 1922 Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a fellow of the IEEE. He is a founding director of Creative Commons, Public Knowledge, and the Free Software Foundation. Additionally, he serves as co-chair for the MIT Council on Educational Technology.

Alvaro Pascual-Leone is Director of Research at the Behavioral Neurology Unit of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Associate Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School.

Paul Osterman is Professor of Human Resources and Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the coeditor of Working in America: A Blueprint for the New Labor Market.

Howard Rheingold, an influential writer and thinker on social media, is the author of Tools for Thought: The History and Future of Mind-Expanding Technology, The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier (both published by the MIT Press), and Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution.

Table of Contents

Foreword Tim O'Reilly xiii

Acknowledgments xv

How This Book Came About xvii

Powerful Ideas Dealt with in the Book xxv

I The Physical World 1

1 Quantum Physics Takes Free Will into Account Ignacio Cirac 5

2 Unifying Particle Physics with the Cosmology of the Primordial Universe José Bernabéu 21

3 For Exoplanets, Anything Is Possible Sara Seager 33

4 From Casimir Forces to Black-Body Radiation: Quantum and Thermal Fluctuations Alejandro W. Rodriguez 43

5 The Challenge of Climate Change Mario J. Molina 55

6 Graphene and Its "Family": The Finest Materials Ever to Exist Pablo Jarillo-Herrero 65

7 The Laws of Thermodynamics Tell You What Is and What Is Not Possible Avelino Corma 77

8 Wisdom Hewn in Ancient Stones John Ochsendorf 89

9 Galileo Programme: Planning Uncertainty and Imagining the Possible and the Impossible Javier Benedicto 101

10 Looking Forward in Architecture by Looking Back Yung Ho Chang 115

11 The Seamless Coupling of Bits and Atoms Hiroshi Ishii 123

II Information 131

12 Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide Henry Jenkins 135

13 The Logic of Physics versus the Logic of Computer Science Bebo White 147

14 The Pillars of MIT: Innovation, Radical Meritocracy, and Open Knowledge Hal Abelson 157

15 We Need Algorithms That Can Make Explicit What Is Implicit Bernardo Cuenca Grau 169

16 The Emergence of a Nonbiological Intelligence Michail Bletsas 179

17 Remembering Our Future: The Frontier of Search Technologies Ricardo Baeza-Yates 191

18 The Challenge of the Open Dissemination of Knowledge, Distributed Intelligence, and Information Technology Anne Margulies 203

19 Technology Is Something to Make the World a Better Place Tim O'Reilly 211

20 Encryption as a Human Right David Casacuberta 223

21 Order in Cyberspace Can Only Be Maintained with a Combination of Ethics and Technology John Perry Barlow 235

22 The Free Software Paradigm and the Hacker Ethic Richard Stallman 241

III Intelligence 261

23 "Affective Computing" Is Not an Oxymoron Rosalind W. Picard 265

24 Mind, Brain, and Behavior Alvaro Pascual-Leone 273

25 MIT Collaborative Innovation: It Takes >2 to Tango Israel Ruiz 285

26 Mind over Matter: Brain-Machine Interfaces Jose M. Carmena 295

27 We Want Robots to See and Understand the World Antonio Torralba 305

28 Between Caves: From Plato to the Brain through the Internet Javier Echeverria 315

29 There Will Be No End of Work Paul Osterman 327

30 A Smart Mob Is Not Necessarily a Wise Mob Howard Rheingold 337

31 Measuring the Intelligence of Everything José Hernández-Orallo 343

32 Touching the Soul of Michelangelo Gianluigi Colalucci 359

IV Epilogue 371

33 Geometry of a Multidimensional Universe: Weightless Art and the Painting of the Void José María Yturralde 375

Name Index 393

Subject Index 399

What People are Saying About This

Joi Ito

The biggest questions explored in a refreshing and engaging dialogue format by Plasencia with some of the best thinkers our times. Is the Universe a Hologram? provides insight into these questions in a multi-dimensional way and shows us that our future is the collective imagination of all of us together.

Endorsement

The biggest questions explored in a refreshing and engaging dialogue format by Plasencia with some of the best thinkers our times. Is the Universe a Hologram? provides insight into these questions in a multi-dimensional way and shows us that our future is the collective imagination of all of us together.

—Joi Ito, Director, MIT Media Lab; author of Whiplash: How to Survive Our Faster Future?

From the Publisher

The biggest questions explored in a refreshing and engaging dialogue format by Plasencia with some of the best thinkers our times. Is the Universe a Hologram? provides insight into these questions in a multi-dimensional way and shows us that our future is the collective imagination of all of us together.

—Joi Ito, Director, MIT Media Lab; author of Whiplash: How to Survive Our Faster Future?