His central idea, however, is a draft of an approach to a theory of everything that melds quantum theory, the theory of evolution, epistemology, and the theory of computation.

As for quantum theory, this was book provides one of the best popular introductions to quantum theory and quantum computation that I’ve seen. Certain ideas (such as the concept of parallel computation in the multiverse) only clicked for me after hearing them from Deutsch.

As for epistemology, Deutsch commands a knowledge of his contemporary scientific philosophy rivaling that of Galileo, Newton, and Einstein – men who were not afraid to dabble in the “softer” science of epistemology. He drives home the mistakes of induction-based scientific philosophies and presents the case for adopting a Popperian philosophy, emphasizing the relative problem-solving efficiency of a theory as criterion for its success. The reading can be a bit rough though if you’ve never been introduced to Kuhn, Popper, or other scientific philosophers before. I’d highly recommend reading some of their works before picking up Fabric of Reality (I had read some Kuhn but no Popper and wish I had).

His introductions to evolution and computation are noble efforts but again, this book is much richer if you have a bit of a background in these subjects. I’d particularly recommend Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene as a prerequisite for Deutsch’s discussions.

I was extremely intrigued by the seeds of a multiverse theory of knowledge that Deutsch planted as well, something I intend to further explore as I gain more background in quantum theory.

Given the radical and rigorous nature of this book’s explorations, I found Deutsch’s use of chapter summaries and glossaries extremely helpful in structuring my reading. I think this feature is an excellent take-away for any science writer.

All things considered however, the fact that this book is not stand-alone and can be confusing at times without the proper background lead me to grant it only three stars.

View all my reviews.

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In India, people are just as fluent in “touch” as they are in the spoken word. Beggars in the street flock to me and any other white people in my company, touching our arms and gently tugging on our sleeves. We watch same-sex friends drape themselves over each other shoulders and interlock fingers and hands in the process. New acquaintances we meet smother our hand shakes in double-fisted hand pumps and warmly throw an arm around our shoulder like they’re picking up their son from a tee-ball game.

So what are they all saying? Touch has a wide vocabulary but all of these people are generally saying the same thing: “I want to connect with you.”

Touch is a way of building relationships. Harry Harlow’s famous study of monkeys separated from their mothers showed that this is indeed one of the primary ways that a baby monkey builds a relationship with its mother (babies separated from their mothers and any other soft touch showed extremely high levels of stress whereas babies whose mothers were replaced by terry cloth towels bonded with the soft touch of the towel just as they would to the soft touch of a mother). The same is true of humans.

Yet the shift to internet communication, the cult of personal space, and homophobia in the US has greatly reduced our fluency in “touch” in America. Sure we still shake hands with new acquaintances and hug old friends but we often seem to do so out of tradition, rather than a genuine desire to embrace. And a touch for the sake of tradition doesn’t communicate much. It can also be easy to think that emails, video chat, and text messages can communicate just as much as anything we do or say in person, but the fact is we’re still biological creatures with evolved needs.

Fortunately, as any student of a foreign language who has returned to their former study abroad location after years at home, though languages fade fast without practice, they revive themselves in our minds almost as quickly with practice.

So try something this week. Next time you really want to show some gratitude, say it with touch.

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