The Outer Limits of Reason: What Science, Mathematics, and Logic Cannot Tell Us (MIT Press)

The Outer Limits of Reason: What Science, Mathematics, and Logic Cannot Tell Us

---

It is what gets us out of bed in the morning. It is our motivation and will. There is no logical reason to do anything. Reason and logic tell us what is and in some cases can tell us what will be. These tools can be used to help us get what we want. But they do not tell us what to want or what ought to be. Only will and desire tell us that. Unless love, desire, music, and art exist, our world has no meaning.

Will and desire are fundamental, while reason is a tool for that will and desire. Reason is a powerful — but nonetheless limited — tool. Zeer goede vertaling van een zeer goed boek van een zeer goede schrijver en denker. Vele interessante concepten en gedachten komen hier samen en scheppen een ruimer beeld over hoe de verschillende vertakkingen van de wetenschap overlappen, maar tegelijkertijd ook verdeeld zijn. Niet enkel fysische, maar ook filosofische kwesties worden opgelost door de wiskunde. Het verband tussen de bewijzen van de onvolledigheidssteling van Godel en het bewijs voorde oplossing van het stop-probleem door Turing wo Zeer goede vertaling van een zeer goed boek van een zeer goede schrijver en denker.

Het verband tussen de bewijzen van de onvolledigheidssteling van Godel en het bewijs voorde oplossing van het stop-probleem door Turing wordt toegelicht en doorheen het boek komt het idee van het bewijs uit het ongerijmde en zijn ongelooflijke bewijzende kracht voor met af en toe wat bedenkingen van Yanofsky. Het leest vrij vlot en het blijft boeien tot het einde. Ik raad het dus iedereen aan! Dec 05, Marcus Chee rated it really liked it.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Yanofsky brings the reader on an incredible journey, carefully illustrating philosophical conundrums from all facets of science. In the end, what is beyond Reason? Yanofsky satiates the curious minds and outlines that Humans already live beyond the boundaries of Reason.

Nov 16, Prahesa rated it liked it. Jun 29, Howard H. A great challenge to the accepted dominance of reason The book shows the difference between unknowable and irrational. Often academics and scientists presume that something is knowable and deny the irrationality of that assumption. Oct 24, Tony Gualtieri rated it really liked it. I read a lot of popular mathematics books, so there is little that is new here, but it's interesting to find all these paradoxes in a single place. A good synthesis of the limits of logic and the strangeness of contemporary physics.

Very good read if you're interested in science and some philosophy on science. I would v recommend this to anyone.

I very much enjoyed this read. Aug 21, Amar rated it it was amazing. Aug 04, Idris Kouadri Boudjelthia rated it it was amazing. I will write the review later. This book provides a glimpse into the world of cutting edge science, physics and philosophy. Discussing the problems we're currently trying to solve in many different fields, the problems we know we can never arrive at a solution of, and probable theories for some problems, however reasonable or unreasonable those theories might be.

Introductions to quantum theory, relativity theory, the epitomes of computer science, string theory, metaphysics, different infinities, multiverses etc. It is awe inspiring to read about these truths that humanity has reached through the centuries, and the sheer cleverness behind the theories put forward to explain the structure of our universe, and why there is something rather than nothing. This book at one time manages to make you feel incredibly unintelligent, but through its colloquial language and descriptions also makes you bask in the awe of actually kind-of understanding these topics, and the logic behind them.

Humanity has come a long way to figure out the mysteries of the universe, and its inner workings, but there is still some huge leaps to uncover, perhaps we will be able to just that in the future, or perhaps there simply are some parts that are beyond the limits of reason and will forever remain unbeknownst to us. This book is highly recommendable for a brief glimpse into all these various topics.

It is easy to fill all the board with enough stone. However, if one tries to fill the board with two queens on two opposing corners, he cannot do that since it is impossible. I will think why it is impossible. The book also asks whether one can fill the board if we move one of the queens so that one is on black square and page "As the circle of light increases, so does the circumference of darkness.

The book also asks whether one can fill the board if we move one of the queens so that one is on black square and the other is on white. Book constantly says the universe is contradiction-free, but, the mind and language are not. It gives some examples such as: A paradoxical sentence "This sentence is false" is not grammatically correct English word.

Some philosophers concluded the problem in the paradox is that the word "this". It seems the sentence directly refers itself. Yet, the sentence "This sentence is false" is false. Quine gives a sentence such that "Yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation" yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation. It's a legitimate English sentence. If it is true, we get falsehood so the sentence is false. If it is false, you do not get falsehood so the sentence is true. Wikipedia says the Quine's sentence is not directly self-referential, however, it contains a self referring predicate.

Book says one of the solution for paradoxes is that proposing they do not exist since the universe does not contain any contradiction. In Barber's paradox, there is no such barber; in Russell's paradox, there is no such set and so on. One might think all possible paradox can be constructed by self-reference. Yet, Stephen Yablo came up with a clever paradox. It is easy to see the paradox: I am very impressed by the paradox. If it was finite, it would be a self-referential paradox, yet, it not.

Frequently bought together

Therefore, the key for getting a paradox without self-reference lays in infinity. Thus, we get infinite number of paradoxical sentences. Interesting-number paradox goes like this. One might ask what is the first uninteresting number. Well, it will be an interesting number since it is the first uninteresting number. It seems to me that the paradox is not exactly a number paradox or mathematical paradox since the property of being interesting is not well-defined. Secondly, one can propose there is no uninteresting number.

But, I think the real problem is the that the property of being uninteresting is interesting is the real problem. The largest number that can be described with one word is ninety For two words, it is nine trillion 90,,,, and for three words, it is nine trillion trillion don't even think about it and so on. Suppose a number such that The least number not expressible in fewer than eleven words. Yet, this expression has ten words. This is called Berry's Paradox. Mar 05, John rated it liked it. The Outer Limits of Reason is a fine example of popular science writing. I was familiar with many of the topics covered and have read some of the books cited in end-chapter notes.

Nevertheless, I found many things I did not know and a few better explanations of familiar famous ideas.

Follow the Author

This book is expository; it does not wade into detailed mathematics but the author provides extensive references for readers so inclined. I would heartily recommend this book for science minded high school students, undergraduates in STEM fields or anyone else that values reason over irrational rubbish. Mar 06, Shane Gumm rated it it was amazing. Fortunately, this book does not disappoint. I thought that the first bit of the book was adequate, but was a little bit bored by it.

When it got into the complex physics towards the middle, I was very entertained. This may have to do with me being a current physics major This book explained concepts like the double slit experiment and Shrodinger's work better than my University's Modern Physics class. I also feel as though the book could have excluded chapter It is just a drawn out summary of the previous reading.

See a Problem?

All of the reading is fairly basic, but you would benefit from having some background in the subjects. Be aware that there are notes in the back of the book referenced throughout. I did not know this until I finished, haha. Good book for anyone studying STEM fields, someone who likes to think, or someone who wants their minds blown. Sep 30, Diego rated it liked it. As someone who has already through the course of my studies, and also a bit on the side explored many of these problems and paradoxes, I was extremely disappointed in the way they are presented.

It is basically a copy of what you can find in many other books, slightly reformulated and with some stuff removed, but this feels much more like reading the summary section from a college textbook than reading a real essay on the question. And worse than that, I found that the author often uselessly re As someone who has already through the course of my studies, and also a bit on the side explored many of these problems and paradoxes, I was extremely disappointed in the way they are presented.

And worse than that, I found that the author often uselessly repeated himself on many points, which is very annoying especially since I already have the feeling of reading something that I have already read. But thankfully there is plenty food for thought in the book, and for people who know nothing about this it can be interesting I think, but I insist that you might as well just read about these topics elsewhere it won't make much of a difference.

It just happens that they are all gathered in one book for convenience. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Books by Noson S. From the Publisher via CrossRef no proxy doi. The Outer Limits of Reason: Atkins Cicero on Politics and the Limits of Reason. The Republic and Laws. Cambridge University Press, Bannon - - The Classical Review 65 1: Johnson Religion and Identity in Porphyry of Tyre.

The Limits of Hellenism in Late Antiquity. The University of Chicago Press, Panglearistotle's Teaching in Thepolitics. Cybernetics and the Machinery of Rationality.

Project MUSE - The Outer Limits of Reason

Cicero's Letters Completed D. However, the 'outer limits' involve travel beyond where science is now, so knowing something about where science currently is helps. As an engineer whose math and science education hasn't totally faded away yet, I found this book fascinating. It explains the huge difference between 'countable infinity' and 'uncountable infinity' something I had never been taught in school , and how the infinite number of solvable problems are dwarfed by an infinitely greater number of unsolvable ones.

It covers chaos theory, the strange quantum world, and the equally curious world of general relativity and the mysteries therein that science has yet to and in some cases never can solve. It will also expose you to the philosophical debate about the curious relationship between math, science and consciousness, without having to plow through a course in philosophy. This book is a wonderful antidote to those far-too-many books that present science and math as always settled fact and incontrovertible truth.

It shows you why intuition often fails, why the scientific dogma of one era is often debunked by the next, and explains how some knowledge of our universe will always remain forever beyond our grasp simply because we cannot 'step outside' our own self-referential existence. In some ways we're like the inhabitants of 2-D Flatland another excellent book btw trying to understand a wider 3-D world. I do have one complaint with this book. There are copious footnotes in each chapter, some which are simple references, but many others which are additional explanatory material.

These are all grouped together in a 'Notes' section in the back of the book.

The Outer Limits of Reason: What Science, Mathematics, and Logic Cannot Tell Us (MIT Press)

This required me to flip continually back and forth from each chapter to the 'Notes' section to read the additional material. It would have been better to present this material as true footnotes on each page; doing so would have eliminated a lot of tedious page-flipping. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. I really enjoyed this book; it made think about subjects I hadn't thought about in years. The bibliography is excellent and the author's comments and examples are often surprising but to the point.

I think it could be better organized. Self reference keeps popping up, I wish it were all in one place. The book is organized into areas where reason presumably fails. I wish it were organized by types of failure.

Also I think he casts too wide a net. I object to his inclusion of some mathematics examples. For instance the inclusion of the ancients' problems demonstrates as he points out later that their problems were not using the correct tools, not that reason was at fault. Similarly for solving quintic equations. It's as if we were out on a starry night and he said "look up. See those moons of Jupiter. I don't have the proper tool. Give me a telescope and I'll be able to see them. I have the same basic criticisms of including quantum theory.

If there is not a final theory why say that there is a limit of science or reason to understand quantum phenomena? He may acknowledge that there are several theories or maybe a theory that no one has ever thought of which might finally be right. But that doesn't prove that there is a limit to what science might conclude in the future.

Overall I think the author's best suit is logic and computing and I think it would have been a better book to have stuck to those subjects. One shouldn't be dissuaded by my criticisms. Read the book, you'll enjoy it. I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of writing what I did write if I didn't like the book. I think that Clint Eastwood in his Dirty Harry character got it right when he said: I purchased the book to learn what limits, if any, were to the tools of reason.

For if there are limits, then the pride must have limits as well. Professor Yanofsky took me on a tour of these limits. With some such as "this sentence is false," I was familiar. The "Language Paradoxes" at the beginning of the book was a little more in depth than I wanted.

However, the professor is laying the predicate for much of what will follow. He will take you through philosophical limits, computing complexities and impossibilities, scientific limits including chaos and aspects of quantum mechanics that never fail to amaze me, and various mathematical limitations, which seem to have many of the same issues as language paradoxes.

I was aware that infinities came in more than one form and the professor clearly explained how this was so. I am not a mathematician.

• Stitching the High-End Needlepoint Kits
• ROBBERY AT THE ROYAL SLOOP
• Die eiskalte Jahreszeit der Liebe: Roman (German Edition)
• A horse is a horse - of course: Horse behaviour explained or What you really need to know about horses so that you dont make mistakes
• I.T. Confidential, A Humorous Look at Work Life through the Eyes of an Info Tech Insider
• Apex Magazine - Issue 42
• Stories from the Diary of a Doctor: 12 The Ponsonby Diamonds