{"id":12595,"date":"2015-09-28T08:28:34","date_gmt":"2015-09-28T15:28:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.preposterousuniverse.com\/blog\/?p=12595"},"modified":"2015-12-10T10:11:42","modified_gmt":"2015-12-10T18:11:42","slug":"the-big-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/preposterousuniverse.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/28\/the-big-picture\/","title":{"rendered":"The Big Picture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once again I have not really been the world’s most conscientious blogger, have I? Sometimes other responsibilities have to take precedence — such as looming book deadlines. And I’m working on a new book, and that deadline is definitely looming!<\/p>\n

\"Sean<\/a><\/p>\n

And here it is. The title is The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself<\/em><\/a>. It’s scheduled to be published on May 17, 2016; you can pre-order it at Amazon and elsewhere right now.<\/p>\n

An alternative subtitle was What Is, and What Matters<\/em>. It’s a cheerfully grandiose (I’m supposed to say “ambitious”) attempt to connect our everyday lives to the underlying laws of nature. That’s a lot of ground to cover: I need to explain (what I take to be) the right way to think about the fundamental nature of reality, what the laws of physics actually are, sketch some cosmology and connect to the arrow of time, explore why there is something rather than nothing, show how interesting complex structures can arise in an undirected universe, talk about the meaning of consciousness and how it can be purely physical, and finally trying to understand meaning and morality in a universe devoid of transcendent purpose. I’m getting tired just thinking about it.<\/p>\n

From another perspective, the book is an explication of, and argument for, naturalism — and in particular, a flavor I label Poetic Naturalism<\/a><\/em>. The “Poetic” simply means that there are many ways of talking about the world, and any one that is both (1) useful, and (2) compatible with the underlying fundamental reality, deserves a place at the table. Some of those ways of talking will simply be emergent descriptions of physics and higher levels, but some will also be matters of judgment and meaning.<\/p>\n

As of right now the book is organized into seven parts, each with several short chapters. All that is subject to change, of course. But this will give you the general idea.<\/p>\n

\n

* Part One: Being and Stories<\/b><\/p>\n

How we think about the fundamental nature of reality. Poetic Naturalism: there is only one world, but there are many ways of talking about it. Suggestions of naturalism: the world moves by itself, time progresses by moments rather than toward a goal. What really exists.<\/p>\n

* Part Two: Knowledge and Belief<\/b><\/p>\n

Telling different stories about the same underlying truth. Acquiring and updating reliable beliefs. Knowledge of our actual world is never perfect. Constructing consistent planets of belief, guarding against our biases.<\/p>\n

* Part Three: Time and Cosmos<\/b><\/p>\n

The structure and development of our universe. Time\u2019s arrow and cosmic history. The emergence of memories, causes, and reasons. Why is there a universe at all, and is it best explained by something outside itself?<\/p>\n

* Part Four: Essence and Possibility<\/b><\/p>\n

Drawing the boundary between known and unknown. The quantum nature of deep reality: observation, entanglement, uncertainty. Vibrating fields and the Core Theory underlying everyday life. What we can say with confidence about life and the soul.<\/p>\n

* Part Five: Complexity and Evolution<\/b><\/p>\n

Why complex structures naturally arise as the universe moves from order to disorder. Self-organization and incremental progress. The origin of life, and its physical purpose. The anthropic principle, environmental selection, and our role in the universe.<\/p>\n

* Part Six: Thinking and Feeling<\/b><\/p>\n

The mind, the brain, and the body. What consciousness is, and how it might have come to be. Contemplating other times and possible worlds. The emergence of inner experiences from non-conscious matter. How free will is compatible with physics.<\/p>\n

* Part Seven: Caring and Mattering<\/b><\/p>\n

Why we can\u2019t derive ought from is, even if \u201cis\u201d is all there is. And why we nevertheless care about ourselves and others, and why that matters. Constructing meaning and morality in our universe. Confronting the finitude of life, deciding what stories we want to tell along the way.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Hope that whets the appetite a bit. Now back to work with me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once again I have not really been the world’s most conscientious blogger, have I? Sometimes other responsibilities have to take precedence — such as looming book deadlines. And I’m working on a new book, and that deadline is definitely looming! And here it is. The title is The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136,24,25,27,28,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-picture","category-personal","category-philosophy","category-religion","category-science","category-words"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/preposterousuniverse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/preposterousuniverse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/preposterousuniverse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preposterousuniverse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preposterousuniverse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12595"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/preposterousuniverse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12615,"href":"https:\/\/preposterousuniverse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12595\/revisions\/12615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/preposterousuniverse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preposterousuniverse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preposterousuniverse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}