Quotes About David Deutsch

David Deutsch, in The Fabric of Reality, embraces the 'many worlds' interpretation of quantum theory

Because we are universal explainers, we are not simply obeying our genes. For

Thus, although the existence of progress in the biosphere is what the theory of evolution is there to explain, not all evolution constitutes progress, and no (genetic) evolution optimizes progress.

SOCRATES: You have? Oh – you said that you honour Athenians for our openness to persuasion. And for our defiance of bullies. But

Beware the difference between prediction and prophecy. Prophecy purports to know things which cannot be known.

Prediction – even perfect, universal prediction – is simply no substitute for explanation.

In this book I argue that all progress, both theoretical and practical, has resulted from a single human activity: the quest for what I call good explanations.

The most important application of quantum computing in the future is likely to be a computer simulation of quantum systems, because that's an application where we know for sure that quantum systems in general cannot be efficiently simulated on a classical computer.

To me quantum computation is a new and deeper and better way to understand the laws of physics, and hence understanding physical reality as a whole.

David Deutsch's The Beginning of Infinity. It's a remarkable argument for the power of knowledge—as not just a human capability but as a force that shapes the universe.