Why you should read Deutsch
testimonials from CritRats
I like David Deutsch. Reading Deutsch is eye opening because he doesn’t just explain the world, he explains why (and how) we can keep improving it forever. Reading David’s work gave me the big picture of where humanity stands: we are in the pinnacle of progress relative to our ancestors and previous civilizations, but forever at the beginning of infinity when it comes to potential progress (as we shall always be).
I have learned a lot from grappling with his work (check this blogpost). David’s work taught me that we should care about the content of ideas rather than their source. Good explanations and arguments stand on their own, no matter who says them. The real purpose of science therefore is to explain the world, to generate explanations about the world, to answer “why’s”. This cuts through some tribal nonsense and is in part why I don’t like politics. Politics often feels to me the most religion like sphere outside of religion itself, full of irrationality and group loyalty. A lot of political discussions seem to rely on appeals to authority or tradition instead of judging arguments and ideas on their own, it seems to be more about who says it other than what is actually said (whatever the democrats say is garbage for republicans, and the other way around). This is why Tyler Cowen says that choosing one box over the other makes you stupider.
You understand why we, people, are cosmically significant and unlike any other species that has ever lived. And in this anti humanist era that we’re living where some argue that we should have less people, that people are harmful to nature, we should “degrow” the economy, etc, David’s work provides an antidote to those evils. You also understand that people, although individually special, are alike with each other in their ability to create knowledge and explain the world (we’re all universal explainers, meaning any person with the right conditions can in principle create explanatory knowledge about anything in the universe). None of us is inherently constrained from solving problems and making progress in our own lives. None of us is inherently constrained from understanding the world or transforming the world. We all have the same ability to conjecture, criticize bad ideas, create better ideas, explain those ideas and act on those explanations with basically unlimited reach. No one’s born with some magical extra capacity that others lack forever. All (and any) of us can create new explanations and solve problems, knowledge creation indeed is the most egalitarian enterprise in nature. This is what makes agency real, none of us is doomed to be limited, we all have the tools to keep improving things forever (both in society and in our own personal lives). And agency is such an important idea because the more agency an individual or society has, the more problems they can solve.
I asked some critical rationalists for their answer to the question “Why should anyone read David Deutsch? What makes his philosophy so special?” But don’t take mine or these guys’s word for it, go find out for yourself!
Brett Hall - “The most profound progress in our understanding of reality comes from discoveries - often in the form of unifications - in fundamental fields.
So it was that the field of quantum computation was spawned not by directly attacking the problem of “how to make better technology” but by investigating how quantum theory (physics) might be tested (epistemology) by taking seriously the Turing principle (mathematics). It takes an intensely curious mind to explore such connections and make that kind of fundamental progress. One such beautiful mind is that of David Deutsch. But this is not the only reason to consume his books, papers, lectures and podcast appearances. David’s work inspires and challenges “what everyone already knows” by frequently presenting something new in philosophy, science and reason broadly. I often compare reading Deutsch to riding a roller coaster. It’s the thrill. The unique view from “the top”. The unexpected twists. The sense of vertigo. The desire to repeat the experience and go searching for something similar. But there is nothing quite like it. Everyone should read Deutsch because, all of the knowledge, insight and wisdom aside: it’s simply fun. Coming to understand Deutsch’s worldview as it appears in his books constitutes perhaps the most pristine instance of eudaemonia one might ever hope to get from a text.”
Sarah Fitz-Claridge - “David Deutsch’s ideas are life changing. His writing doesn’t just tell you about his unified view of reality, it changes the psychological environment in which you solve problems, create knowledge, and relate to others in your life. Once you internalise his statement that “problems are inevitable, but they are soluble”, problems start seeming fun and fascinating to solve. When you approach problem solving in that spirit, your creativity is not being impeded by pessimism. Just think what a difference it makes to how you navigate disagreements: in place of the usual fighting attitude, you relish the opportunity to resolve the disagreement in a way that delights that both of you.”
Aaron Stupple - “David Deutsch explains why people are cosmically significant. He explains what our unique characteristics are, the ones that separate us from other animals and the rest of it. And his answer, that we create explanations, can reshuffle everything in one’s life. Creating explanations is the key, because that’s what enable us to understand, and to improve our understanding, to the point where we can do things like go to the moon. No non-human animal is even making progress in this area, because no non-human animal is creating and improving an understanding of the world. If creating explanations is the magic sauce, then creativity is not just some frivolous quality that some people develop in their spare time. It’s not just a cutesy trait that some people have. It is instead the engine that all of us use to live our lives. Everything requires figuring out, from the moment we wake up. The most mundane and profound questions we face require us to create an understanding and to improve our understanding. Perhaps the most delightful consequence of all of this is that one’s interests take on a central role. Interests are not a side project, they are almost like the fuel that creativity runs on. If you want to unleash your creativity, you need to allow yourself the freedom to pursue your interests. This makes life more productive, more meaningful, and more fun.”
Tom Hyde - “In one word: universality. I have often remarked that the best way to know that people are capable of anything is to sit back and watch them accomplish everything. Deutsch’s books are the literary proof of this radical generalism: with just four strands (quantum theory, computation, epistemology, evolution), he weaves the fundamental theory of people in science; and with just one thesis (that all progress is the result of “the quest for good explanations”), he explains art, beauty, the philosophy of mind, the reality of abstractions, ethics, politics, our foremost origins, and our utmost futures. There is something for everyone because, as Deutsch alone explains, everyone really *is* everything. Everyone really *is* special.”
Reid Nicewonder - “He gives one the ability to take seriously the idea that it’s possible to make progress in any domain. Not only in science, but in philosophy, including both morality and aesthetics. By his ability to explain this in such a way that cuts through the bad philosophical baggage that permeates our current culture. With this, he also brings a cure to a certain kind of nihilism regarding the status of human beings and their capabilities. We’re universal explainers - and what that entails is all we need to know that we’re very special indeed.”
Anders K - “No books have done what David’s did for me: a complete worldview change. Of all the perspective shifts, two stand out. First: humans. I used to see us as smart apes, limited by genes and IQ, in a time where progress had gone too far. Now I know that we are the most important entity in the universe, that we’re only at the beginning of what can be, and we have unbounded potential to create a better world. Second: problems. The word used to feel negative. Now I see problems as blessings, the source of the unlimited progress we can bring about. These two perspectives entwine into a remarkable truth: that each of us has a lead role to play in the cosmos...if we step forward into the problems that excite us.”
Bart Vanderhaegen - “Reading David Deutsch has impacted me profoundly, delivering a number of intellectual jolts across multiple domains that reshaped how I see reality, knowledge, and humanity itself. The first real “blow” came from his clear and direct account of the multiverse in The Fabric of Reality. I remember my days in university being annoyed at not finding answers to what could actually be happening in the quantum world, beyond the mathematics that gives us accurate predictions. All of my questions about this were consistently ignored or met with vague deflections, and many-worlds was never even mentioned. Then finding actual answers in Deutsch’s work was really amazing: he cut through the evasion with the most careful argumentation, showing how the equations describe a vast structure of parallel realities that subtly influence one another, turning the multiverse from a speculative notion into the clearest, most powerful explanation of what could actually be happening. The next blows came from his account of Popper’s Critical Rationalism. He carefully mounts the most powerful counters against the prevailing ideas about knowledge and how it grows: empiricism, induction, instrumentalism, justificationism, and relativism. The most enlightening impact, though, was his perspective on human significance. We aren’t just passive observers in a vast universe; we are unusual creatures able to create new knowledge, grasp deep features of reality, and keep solving problems without any fixed limit.”
Tomas Geerkens - “For me, reading David Deutsch matters because he makes optimism a duty, not a mood. His work shows that problems are inevitable, but so is progress, if we allow ourselves to create better explanations. That alone, is mentally liberating. He also gives you tools to distinguish good philosophy from bad philosophy, which is surprisingly important for mental health in a world full of fashionable pessimism and empty relativism. Deutsch puts humans back at the center of the worldview without slipping into arrogance, grounding that central role in a strong moral compass. Most importantly, he helped bridge something I felt was missing: a coherent link between morality, epistemology, and science, building on Popper to show how knowledge, ethics, and progress genuinely fit together.”
Zakery Mizell - “David Deutsch’s unique contribution to philosophy is following the implications of our deepest known theories. Surprisingly, this is not a common practice! He shows that the theory of knowledge, the theory of universal computation, the theory of the multiverse, and the theory of replicators, each have consequences that affect all fields. For me this unlocked new ways to appreciate beauty, and revealed that our capacity to appreciate beauty is unbounded. This philosophy will change how you think, it will transform your view of the world. And it will enable you to make deep progress for humanity.”
Erik Polakiewiez - “Gravitas would be the single word I would use to describe Deutsch’s book. And I don’t think I’ve ever used it before. His book is based on “simple” concepts such as the power knowledge, problem solving, and rational and critical thinking, but they are explored profoundly. So much that his ideas can be applied on the smallest things in life and on the largest. It describes a framework that can alter the way you think about science, philosophy, morality, sociology, economy, education, art, and even our own reality. Well, actually not just or own reality, but every single reality, real or unreal, imagined or not.”
Logan Chipkin - “Anyone who’s interested in fundamental ideas would benefit from grappling with David Deutsch’s work.”
Edwin de Wit - “Reading David Deutsch gives you a clear criterion for what counts as a good explanation and, just as importantly, how to spot bad explanations of reality. That unlocks a more rational way to think about minds, values, progress, and our role in the universe.”