Book · recommended on 10 episodes
The Beginning of Infinity
David Deutsch ISBN 9785916713022
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David Deutsch ISBN 9785916713022
Find it on AmazonAffiliate link — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
This book by David Deutsch has come up 10 times across 3 different shows: Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman, Tim Ferriss. 9 of those mentions were genuine on-air recommendations, not just passing references. The people who brought it up: Aaron Stupple, Dustin Moskovitz, Jimmy Carr, Naval Ravikant, Steven Pinker, Tim Ferriss. The earliest mention we indexed is from 2018-10-17 and the most recent from 2025-05-22. Every occurrence below links to the episode page and to the exact second it was said on YouTube.
"A bold and all-embracing exploration of the nature and progress of knowledge from one of today's great thinkers. Throughout history, mankind has struggled to understand life's mysteries, from the mundane to the seemingly miraculous. In this important new book, David Deutsch, an award-winning pioneer in the field of quantum computation, argues that explanations have a fundamental place in the universe. They have unlimited scope and power to cause change, and the quest to improve them is the basic regulating principle not only of science but of all successful human endeavor.
“I love that thing with uh that book, The Beginning of Infinity. I can't get over that.”— Jimmy Carr
The guest here is Jimmy Carr: British comedian known for rapid-fire one-liners, panel shows like 8 Out of 10 Cats, and Netflix specials. A prolific touring stand-up currently working a 47-country tour. Jimmy Carr and Joe Rogan riff on play, comedy as craft, AI as an emerging god, work ethic, taxes, and the mystery of consciousness.
“all of this comes down from Deutsch's philosophy so beginning of infinity fabric of reality great books”— Aaron Stupple
The guest here is Naval Ravikant and Aaron Stupple: Naval Ravikant is an entrepreneur and investor; Aaron Stupple is a physician (internal medicine hospitalist), former public school teacher, father of five, and author of The Sovereign Child, espousing the 'taking children seriously' philosophy. Hosted by Tim Ferriss. Naval Ravikant and Dr. Aaron Stupple make the case for raising kids without coercive rules, replacing them with creativity and trust.
“I read this book recently um David Deutsch the beginning of infinity and it's like it blew my mind”— Jimmy Carr
The guest here is Jimmy Carr: British stand-up comedian known for one-liners and dark edgy humor, with Netflix specials, who has played 40+ countries and is on tour. Jimmy Carr and Joe Rogan riff on comedy as a new art form, gratitude, the JFK film, and living with purpose.
“top recommendation is the beginning of infinity by David Deutsch... I find it just really fascinating and enjoyable”— Dustin Moskovitz
The guest here is Dustin Moskovitz: Co-founder and CEO of Asana, co-founder of Facebook (former CTO and VP of engineering), and a major funder of effective altruism causes. Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz on managing energy as an introverted founder, conscious leadership, effective altruism, and the real risks and upsides of AI.
“He is the author of The Fabric of Reality and The Beginning of Infinity and he is an advocate of the philosophy of Karl Popper.”— Tim Ferriss
The guest here is David Deutsch and Naval Ravikant: David Deutsch is a visiting physics professor at Oxford's Center for Quantum Computation, a pioneer of quantum computing, and author of The Fabric of Reality and The Beginning of Infinity. Naval Ravikant, co-host here, is co-founder of AngelList and AirChat and an early investor in Twitter, Uber, and Notion. David Deutsch and Naval Ravikant unpack epistemology, the four strands of reality, AGI, optimism, and why humans are central to the universe.
“I really encourage people to read The Beginning of Infinity, at least the first three chapters which I think are an easy read before you even get in the physics part.”— Naval Ravikant
The guest here is David Deutsch and Naval Ravikant: David Deutsch is a visiting physics professor at Oxford's Center for Quantum Computation, a pioneer of quantum computing, and author of The Fabric of Reality and The Beginning of Infinity. Naval Ravikant, co-host here, is co-founder of AngelList and AirChat and an early investor in Twitter, Uber, and Notion. David Deutsch and Naval Ravikant unpack epistemology, the four strands of reality, AGI, optimism, and why humans are central to the universe.
“one of the reasons i like david deutsch in particular his book the beginning of infinity um is that he talks about the power of explanations”— guest
The guest here is Neal Stephenson: Legendary science fiction author of Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age, Seveneves and Termination Shock. He was Blue Origin's first employee and served as Chief Futurist at the AR company Magic Leap. Sci-fi legend Neal Stephenson on space, aliens, AI, VR, crypto, climate geoengineering, and why a good yarn is an evolutionary survival tool.
“a book i like a lot is um maybe my favorite book is david deutsch's beginning of infinity um i just found that so optimistic”— guest
The guest here is Richard Craib: Founder of Numerai, a crowdsourced hedge fund where anonymized data is given away free and trades are driven by machine learning models submitted by a global community who stake cryptocurrency on their predictions. Numerai founder Richard Craib explains his crowdsourced AI hedge fund and why WallStreetBets and GameStop signal a power shift to distributed crowds.
“the beginning of infinity do you know what by david deutsch um so he's a physicist so that was very mind opening to me to read that”— guest
The guest here is Natalya Bailey: Rocket scientist and spacecraft propulsion engineer, formerly at MIT, now founder and CTO of Accion Systems, which builds efficient electric propulsion engines for satellites and spacecraft. Rocket scientist Natalya Bailey breaks down in-space electric propulsion, nanoscale colloid thrusters, and why knowledge may be the meaning of life.
“this book enlightenment now is influenced by David Deutsch as the beginning of infinity a rather deep reflection on knowledge”— Steven Pinker
The guest here is Steven Pinker: Cognitive psychologist and linguist at Harvard; bestselling author on language, the mind, violence, and reason. Steven Pinker argues AI existential-threat fears are magical thinking, and that reason and engineering culture make AI a humanitarian boon.
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