Information--Consciousness--Reality : : How a New Understanding of the Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions of Existence.

• Superior document: The Frontiers Collection
• Author: Glattfelder, James B.
• Place / Publishing House: Cham : : Springer International Publishing AG,, 2019.; ©2019.
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: The Frontiers Collection
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (673 pages)

Table of Contents

Intro -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Schematic Outline -- User Manual -- Contents -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 At a Glance -- 1.1.1 A Very Short Outline of the Journey -- 1.1.2 Chapter Overview -- 1.2 The Story in a Nutshell -- 1.2.1 Part I: Climbing to the Summit -- 1.2.2 Part II: The Downfall -- 1.2.3 Part III: A New Horizon -- 1.3 Chapter/Section Content Map -- References -- Part I Climbing to the Summit -- 2 In Search of the Book of Nature -- 2.1 A Modern Edition of the Book of Nature -- 2.1.1 Classical Mechanics -- 2.1.2 Classical Electrodynamics -- 2.1.3 Mathematical Physics -- 2.1.4 Mathematics from Physics -- 2.2 Seeking Meaning -- 2.2.1 Shut Up and Calculate! -- References -- 3 The Semantics of Symmetry, Invariance, and Structure -- 3.1 Symmetry in Action: Conservation Laws -- 3.1.1 From Geometry … -- 3.1.2 … To Symmetry -- 3.1.3 … And Back -- 3.1.4 Noether's Theorem: Digging Deeper -- 3.2 Symmetry Manifested -- 3.2.1 Causality and the Relation of Space and Time -- 3.2.2 Elementary Particles -- References -- 4 The Unification Power of Symmetry -- 4.1 Back to Geometry: The Principle of Covariance -- 4.2 The History of Gauge Theory -- 4.2.1 The Higgs Mechanism -- 4.2.2 Tying Up Some Loose Ends -- 4.3 The Road to Unification -- 4.3.1 Jumping to Higher Dimensions -- 4.3.2 The Advent of String Theory -- 4.3.3 Einstein's Unified Field Theory -- 4.3.4 A Brief History of Quantum Mechanics -- 4.3.5 Einstein's Final Years -- 4.4 Unification-The Holy Grail of Physics -- References -- 5 The Two Volumes of the Book of Nature -- 5.1 Volume I: Analytical Tools and Physical Science -- 5.1.1 The Success -- 5.1.2 The Paradigms of Fundamental Processes -- 5.1.3 The Limitations -- 5.2 Volume II: Algorithmic Tools and Complex Systems -- 5.2.1 The Paradigms of Complex Systems -- 5.2.2 The Science of Simple Rules -- 5.2.3 The New Science of Networks.

5.2.4 The Success -- 5.3 The Profound Unifying Powers of Mathematics -- 5.3.1 The Continuous-A History -- 5.3.2 Discrete Mathematics: From Algorithms to Graphs and Complexity -- 5.3.3 Unity -- 5.4 The Book of Nature Reopened -- 5.4.1 Beyond Volumes I and II -- References -- 6 Volume II: The Simplicity of Complexity -- 6.1 Reviewing the Book of Nature -- 6.2 A Brief History of Complexity Thinking -- 6.2.1 Complex Systems Theory -- 6.2.2 The Philosophy of Complexity: From Structural Realism to Poststructuralism -- 6.3 Complex Network Theory -- 6.3.1 The Ubiquity of Complex Networks -- 6.3.2 Three Levels of Network Analysis -- 6.4 Laws of Nature in Complex Systems -- 6.4.1 Universal Scaling Laws -- 6.4.2 Historical Background: Pareto, Zipf, and Benford -- 6.4.3 The Types of Universal Scaling -- References -- 7 Applied Complexity: Finance and Economics in a New Light -- 7.1 Terra Cognita -- 7.1.1 Some Historical Background -- 7.1.2 The Global Financial Crisis -- 7.2 A Call to Arms -- 7.2.1 Embracing Complexity -- 7.2.2 Reforming Finance and Economics -- 7.3 Complexity Finance and Economics -- 7.3.1 Multi-Agent Systems -- 7.3.2 Network Thinking -- 7.4 The Past, Present, and Future of Economic Interactions -- 7.4.1 The Imperial Power of Profit -- 7.4.2 The Dark Side: The Economics of Greed and Fraud -- 7.4.3 The Blockchain: A Decentralized Architecture for the Economy -- References -- Part II The Downfall -- 8 A Brief Story of Success: The Manifestation of Knowledge and the Hydra of Ignorance -- 8.1 Clouds on the Horizon -- 8.1.1 Uncertainty -- 8.1.2 Why Anything? -- 8.1.3 A Short Narrative of Cosmic Coincidences -- 8.2 The Core Enigmas of Existence -- References -- 9 Philosophy and Science: What Can I Know? -- 9.1 The Philosophy of Science -- 9.1.1 Logical Empiricism -- 9.1.2 Critical Rationalism -- 9.1.3 The Kuhnian View -- 9.1.4 Postmodernism.

9.1.5 Constructivism -- 9.1.6 Relativism -- 9.2 The Evolution of Science -- 9.2.1 The Comprehensible Universe -- 9.2.2 The End of Science? -- 9.2.3 The Fractal Nature of Knowledge -- 9.3 The Practitioners of Science -- 9.3.1 On Philosophy -- 9.3.2 On Objectivity, Truth, Knowledge, and Certainty -- 9.3.3 On Laws of Nature, Reality, and Science -- 9.3.4 On Ignorance and Irrationality -- 9.3.5 On the Mind -- 9.3.6 And More -- 9.4 The Limits of Mathematics -- 9.4.1 Inherent Randomness -- 9.4.2 Losing Meaning -- References -- 10 Ontological Enigmas: What is the True Nature of Reality? -- 10.1 The Worst Prediction in Physics -- 10.1.1 The Quantum Field -- 10.1.2 Einstein's Biggest Blunder -- 10.2 Quantum Gravity: The Cutting-Edge of Theoretical Physics -- 10.2.1 Simple Quantum Gravity -- 10.2.2 String/M-Theory -- 10.2.3 Loop Quantum Gravity -- 10.3 The Large and the Small -- 10.3.1 Cosmological Conundrums -- 10.3.2 The Weird Quantum Realm of Reality -- 10.4 The Nature of Reality -- 10.4.1 Does Matter Exist? -- 10.4.2 Is Time an Illusion? -- References -- 11 Subjective Consciousness: What am I? -- 11.1 The History and Philosophy of Our Minds -- 11.2 Modern Neuroscience -- 11.2.1 Perceiving the Outer World -- 11.2.2 Perceiving the Inner World -- 11.3 Impressionable Consciousness -- 11.3.1 The Gullible Mind -- 11.3.2 The Irrational Mind -- 11.3.3 The Broken Mind -- 11.4 The Mind-Body Problem -- 11.4.1 Free Will -- References -- Part III A New Horizon -- 12 The Age of Post-Truth -- 12.1 The Cult of Ignorance -- 12.2 The Age of Conspiracy -- 12.2.1 The Spectrum -- 12.2.2 Creationism -- 12.3 What About This Book? -- 12.4 The Dawning of a New Age -- 12.4.1 Collective Intelligence -- 12.4.2 Self-organization -- 12.4.3 Scientific Utilitarianism -- 12.4.4 Radical Open-Mindedness -- References -- 13 A Universe Built of Information.

13.1 The Many Faces of Information -- 13.1.1 The Philosophy of Information -- 13.1.2 The Computability of Information -- 13.1.3 Information is Physical -- 13.2 It from Bit -- 13.2.1 It from Qubit -- 13.2.2 The Ur-Alternatives -- 13.3 Digital Physics -- 13.3.1 The Illusion of the Infinite -- 13.4 An Information Ontology -- 13.4.1 The Cosmic Hologram -- 13.4.2 A Simulated Reality -- 13.4.3 Alternatives and Opposition -- References -- 14 The Consciousness of Reality -- 14.1 Formalizing Consciousness: Integrated Information Theory -- 14.1.1 The Taboo of Subjectivity -- 14.1.2 The Mathematical Engine -- 14.1.3 Putting It to the Test -- 14.1.4 The Opposition -- 14.2 The Cosmic Nature of Consciousness -- 14.2.1 Panpsychism: The Universality of Consciousness -- 14.2.2 The Primacy of Consciousness -- 14.2.3 The Taboo of Spirituality -- 14.2.4 Non-Human Intelligence -- 14.3 Enhanced Consciousness: The Psychedelic Renaissance -- 14.3.1 Healing the Mind -- 14.3.2 DMT: Down the Rabbit Hole -- 14.3.3 Cultural Roots -- 14.3.4 Plant Consciousness -- 14.3.5 The Noumenon -- 14.4 A Participatory Ontology -- 14.4.1 The Quantum Observer -- 14.4.2 Psi: Measuring the Transcendental -- References -- 15 Consilience -- 15.1 The Inner and Outer Aspects of Information -- 15.2 The Rhizome of Reality and the Entelechy of Existence -- 15.2.1 Setting the Stage -- 15.2.2 A Rehearsal -- 15.3 A New Horizon -- 15.3.1 Transcending Religion -- 15.3.2 In Closing -- References -- Epilogue -- References -- Author Index -- Subject Index -- Titles in This Series.