The Intelligent Universe: AI, ET, and the Emerging Mind of the Cosmos

by James N. Gardner, Ray Kurzweil (Foreword by)

What is the ultimate destiny of our universe? That is the striking question addressed by James Gardner in The Intelligent Universe . Traditionally, scientists (and Robert Frost) have offered two bleak answers to this profound fire or ice. In The Intelligent Universe , James Gardner envisions a third dramatic alternative--a final state of the cosmos in which a highly evolved form of group intelligence engineers a cosmic renewal, the birth of a new universe.

Genres: Science, Artificial Intelligence, Nonfiction, Technology

269 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2007

Reviews

[Gwern · Rating 2 out of 5]

Relatively superficial treatment of physical eschatology; suffers badly for having been written in 2007 and not being particularly up to date even then.

[Dan Zarfati · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes that this would be a ground-breaking book but it isn't. It is actually quite conservative and predictable. When an author talks about ET or aliens, never studied the subject, and then says that some day it may happen, to me it is a sign that he or she should be ignored.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps it will always be human nature to conquest.

The universe and beyond renders an individual obsolete, especially as technology continues to evolve and attempt to replicate and replace brain functions.

Why are we here? Pick a story of creation and then put your faith into it. It doesn't matter which one as long as you believe in something.

Randy Brewer's spoken word on Bright Eye's The People's Key may not be so farfetched after all...

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book might be fascinating to some, but I couldn't stay with it. I remember seeing predictions of the future that were made in the 1950s, that included helicopters in every garage, and free nuclear energy powering our homes, cars and trains. Obviously they didn't know what they were talking about. Neither does Jim Gardner.

[Bo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was skeptic of his credentials, but he put the entire scope of future trends of science, biology and intelligence into coherent worldview of the evolving cosmic organism. We are all partaking in the continual evolution of God (the universal organism) towards perfection with the intent (which I admit is a stretch) to produce progeny universes. Everyone should read this.

[Martin Gustafsson]

This book is fun to read because Gardner presents some of the wildest ideas in modern physics. As for his own "selfish-biocosm" hypothesis. It´s just that sort of speculation you might indulge in after having a couple of beers, but it isn´t science, and Gardners hypothesis isn´t more believable than contemporary religious beliefs.

[Jedd Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best speculative science book I've ever read. It really made a lot of sense to me as scientist/engineer. Perhaps reality is a hybrid of "the matrix" and the theories postulated in this book. Are we in a simulation that is calculating something? If so, what? What do we (humanity) have to do it? This book tries to tackle the biggest of the big questions.

[Ilya · Rating 1 out of 5]

the spelling errors and awful awful typeface turn out to be the surface expressions of a hand-waving, highly-speculative, not particularly interesting argument about information, the universe and the future.

[Ramon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great, well-written and well documented, speculation about how life and intelligence may help to build the laws of physics in our (ans possibly other) universe(s).

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book; not an easy read though.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a mind-blowing book that presented me with lots of great insights and stimulated quite a bit of thinking during and after reading.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very imaginative and thought provoking.