The Weirdness of the World

UC Riverside philosophy professor Schwitzgebel (A Theory of Jerks and Other Philosophical Misadventures) explores a question at least as old as Descartes (“Cogito ergo sum”) in this stimulating treatise. As the author sees it, the world is “deeply... weird to its core,” not least because humans are unable to grasp the nature of perception itself. Because humans are ill-equipped to solve this—and other—fundamental questions, it’s vital to explore all “bizarre possibilities,” such as panpsychism, which holds that “experience is ubiquitous in the universe, even in microparticles.” Schwitzgebel also investigates the fundamental structure of the cosmos, which “might be infinite,” or include a “simulated reality or pocket universe, embedded in a much larger structure about which we know virtually nothing.” In the process, he leads readers down a fascinating rabbit hole of metaphysics, ontology, theories of causation, and the science of cognition. While the prose can be dense at times, it never strays too far from Schwitzgebel’s notion that “In each of our heads there are about as many neurons as stars in our galaxy, and each neuron is arguably more structurally complex than any star system that does not contain life. There is as much complexity and mystery inside as out.” It’s an exuberant look at some of life’s biggest questions. (Jan.)