Key Concepts
Essential ideas and terminology from The Beginning of Infinity
Explanatory Knowledge
Knowledge that doesn't just predict but explains why things happen. This is the most powerful form of knowledge because it has reach beyond its original context.
Good Explanation
An explanation that is hard to vary while still accounting for what it explains. Good explanations are testable and bring us closer to truth.
Reach
The ability of an explanation to solve problems and answer questions beyond those it was created for. Good explanations have unexpectedly broad reach.
Universality
The property of a system that can, in principle, perform any task of a certain type. Examples: universal computers, DNA, human language, and human knowledge creation.
Jump to Universality
The phenomenon where incremental improvements suddenly result in a system becoming universal - capable of doing anything in its domain.
Multiverse
The many parallel universes predicted by quantum mechanics. Each quantum event branches reality into multiple versions, all of which are equally real.
Principle of Optimism
All evils are caused by insufficient knowledge. All problems are solvable given the right knowledge. This is not wishful thinking but follows from the nature of explanation.
Beginning of Infinity
The point at which humans gained the ability to create explanatory knowledge. This marks the start of potentially unlimited progress in understanding and transformation.
Hard to Vary
The crucial property of good explanations. If you change any detail, the explanation stops working. This testability is what makes science possible.
Static Society
A society that suppresses innovation and change, keeping knowledge creation minimal. Most human societies throughout history have been static.
Dynamic Society
A society that expects and welcomes change, continuously creating new knowledge. This is rare historically but essential for progress.
Meme
An idea that replicates through culture. Memes can be rational (ideas we adopt through understanding) or anti-rational (ideas that suppress criticism).
Fallibilism
The recognition that we can never be certain we have the truth, but we can make progress by eliminating errors. All knowledge is provisional and improvable.
Empiricism (Bad)
The false doctrine that knowledge comes primarily from sensory experience. Deutsch argues that theories and explanations are more fundamental than observations.
Realism
The view that the physical world exists objectively and that science aims to discover truths about it, not just make predictions.
Instrumentalism
The false view that scientific theories are just tools for prediction, not descriptions of reality. Deutsch rejects this view.
Parochialism
Mistaking appearance for reality. Assuming what we can easily observe is all there is. Science overcomes parochialism through explanation.
Abstract Entities
Non-physical things like numbers, laws, and knowledge that nevertheless have real causal effects on the physical world.
Universal Explainer
A system (like humans) capable of understanding anything that can be understood. We are the only known universal explainers in the universe.
Creativity
The ability to create new explanatory knowledge. True creativity requires understanding, not just variation and selection.
Problem Situation
The context of problems and attempted solutions that drives knowledge creation. Progress happens through solving problems, which creates new problems.
Objective Beauty
Beauty is not purely subjective. Beautiful things contain objective features that can be explained and understood through knowledge.
Sustainability (Critique)
The misconception that we should aim to maintain the status quo. Deutsch argues real sustainability comes from knowledge creation, not resource preservation.
The Enlightenment
The cultural/philosophical movement that started sustained knowledge creation by establishing institutions that protect criticism and innovation.
Infinite Regress
A logical problem where each explanation requires another explanation ad infinitum. Good explanations solve this by being testable and improvable.