The Weirdness of the World

By: Eric Schwitzgebel

Narrated by: Will Collyer

This audiobook narrated by Will Collyer reveals why all philosophical explanations of human consciousness and the structure of the cosmos are bizarre—and why that’s a good thing

Do we live inside a simulated reality or a pocket universe embedded in a larger structure about which we know virtually nothing? Is consciousness a purely physical matter, or might it require something extra, something nonphysical? According to the philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel, it’s hard to say. In The Weirdness of the World, Schwitzgebel argues that the answers to these fundamental questions lie beyond our powers of comprehension. We can be certain only that the truth—whatever it is—is weird. Philosophy, he proposes, can aim to open—to reveal possibilities we had not previously appreciated—or to close, to narrow down to the one correct theory of the phenomenon in question. Schwitzgebel argues for a philosophy that opens.

According to Schwitzgebel’s “Universal Bizarreness” thesis, every possible theory of the relation of mind and cosmos defies common sense. According to his complementary “Universal Dubiety” thesis, no general theory of the relationship between mind and cosmos compels rational belief. Might the United States be a conscious organism—a conscious group mind with approximately the intelligence of a rabbit? Might virtually every action we perform cause virtually every possible type of future event, echoing down through the infinite future of an infinite universe? What, if anything, is it like to be a garden snail? Schwitzgebel makes a persuasive case for the thrill of considering the most bizarre philosophical possibilities.

©2024 Eric Schwitzgebel (P)2024 Princeton University Press

I'm laughing a bit at the negative reviews

yes, it's complicated reading, but delightful if you put in the effort. it is mind expanding to think of the Eternal complexity and weirdness of this world. awe makes us see ourselves as smaller but more united with others and with our planet and the universe in general

A great book if you're serious about philosophy

I love this book! I especially liked chapter 5 where Schwitzgebel talks about "nonmaterial" Turing Machines, by which I assume he means a machine made out of stuff other than matter or energy as we currently understand them, but nevertheless operates according to the laws of cause and effect. Chapter 6 was also fun and, as far as I can tell, unique. He was smart not to even try to prove that solipsism is impossible but instead show that it is improbable, that is to say external universe theories can explain observations better than solipsism can, and do so without undergoing the logical contortions that solipsism requires. So Occam's razor gives solipsism a thumbs down. Even the book's appendix is great, it's just as enjoyable as the rest of the book.

John K Clark