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Title: The Paradox of God and the Science of Omniscience
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Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
List Price: $16.95
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| The Paradox of God and the Science of Omniscience by Palgrave Macmillan Pickover's worst book to date | Actually, this effort can not be appropriately called a book. It can be more appropriately described as a collection of random thoughts.
When Pickover tries to really dig into the problem he posed to himself, his efforts end up either being shallow or degrading into rumblings about mathematical formulas. No significant advance in the matter is ever reached.
Almost all of his premises can be seen, by any mildly intelligent person, as false from the beginning, which turns any effort in reading through the entire book a Herculean task.
I have read almost every book Pickover wrote to this date and enjoyed them very much, which prompted me to buy this one mostly because his name was on the cover... Suffice to say that I won't be making that mistake twice.
| | The Paradox of God and the Science of Omniscience by Palgrave Macmillan A Book That Invites Mental Participation | | Does Cliff Pickover provide an answer to humanity's questions about the nature of God? Absolutely not. What he does in this book is much more important. He encourages his readers to think for themselves. By creating a series of paradoxical riddles that continuously entangle themselves in catch-22s, Pickover demonstrates how little we actually understand about a hypothetical "omniscient" being. Can we ever understand God from a human point of view? I don't know, but this book encourages us to at least try. That in itself is a valuable gift.One word of warning:if you are a passive reader, looking for a few hours of lazy entertainment, don't buy this book. However,if you want mental stimulation and a nice potent cerebral workout,definately read this book! It really doesn't matter if one believes in God or not when reading this book. The thought processes evoked by the book are worth the price itself. | | The Paradox of God and the Science of Omniscience by Palgrave Macmillan Book Review: The Paradox of God | Can God create a rock so heavy that He cannot lift it?
Clifford A. Pickover addresses this question and numerous others in his book The Paradox of God and the Science of Omniscience. Not content with examining well-known problems that arise when we think of a literally existing omnipotent being, Pickover pulls together difficult brainteasers from statistics, philosophy, time-travel along with theology and questions about free will. He demonstrates that being able to predict the future might actually be a disadvantage in practical situations and explains why your brain perceives things that apparently haven't happened yet.
This is the second book I've read by Pickover, the first being Time: A Traveler's Guide. Pickover is creative and entertaining, and someone accessible to all- neither a Jehovah's Witness or a positive atheist is likely to be offended by his treatment of the touchy subject matter. His approach isn't to solve the problems for us or even explain what he thinks are the answers. Pickover simply explains the paradoxes, presents the opinions of great thinkers, and tells an amusing story.
The book can get annoying at times, however. Pickover has a lot of trouble sticking to the same subject for more than a few pages, making me wonder just who was hired to edit this thing. If you want some in-depth treatment of the nature of knowledge, Pickover's frequent tangents on irrelevant tangents will likely frustrate you. Personally, I would have liked a chapter on what purpose or meaning an omnipotent being could find in life.
But when Pickover wants to make a point, he explains this clearly enough that math failures like me can understand. My favorite example is in the last chapter, 'Some Final Thoughts,' where he uses game theory and a though experiment involving a square room and a lever to predict the conditions that a person will resist or succumb to temptation, even if we grant full free will.
So if you're looking for an intelligent entertaining read that you can pick up and put down whenever you like, I highly recommend The Paradox of God. | | The Paradox of God and the Science of Omniscience by Palgrave Macmillan Bring an Open Mind and Plenty of Aspirin to Explore God | What does biology, physics, the Bible, and Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" have in common? They are part of Clifford A. Pickover's subject material used to explore the paradoxes of God and the science of omniscience. Pickover, a professional puzzler and inventor, will bend your mind like a wet noodle, so please bring an open mind and more importantly, plenty of aspirin when reading "The Paradox of God and The Science of Omniscience."
Pickover will convince you without a doubt about point A, but then be equally convincing with a contradicting point B. The book is bursting at the seam with paradoxes concerning God's nature. An interesting notion is that omniscience has its disadvantages. One example the author cogently dissects is a game of chicken with an omniscient being. If you enjoy ruminating on such notions, then this book will quickly enthrall and delight with the numerous permutations the author diverges on to grasp a fuller understanding of God. However, if the aforementioned leaves you in the doldrums, harking back to a time when you were forced to sit through the requisite Philosophy 101 college class, then this treatise will have you running for the hills.
The point of the author's writings is to challenge the definitions of God and the universe. The effect may be shattering as one's paradigm slowly shifts. Pickover seems to enjoy being the provocateur; his tone is gleeful at times. Pickover states, "The mere asking of these questions stretches our minds." He leads discussions via the Socratic method, but definitive answers are lacking as questions quickly multiply. However, one absolute is this: a gem of a read for anyone vaguely interested in God.
Bohdan Kot | | The Paradox of God and the Science of Omniscience by Palgrave Macmillan As with any book that delves into philosophy... | ...you get out of it what you put into it. I myself am a fundamentalist, but that doesn't mean the book isn't worth reading. The book is MEANT to be a survey of various topics, which is why the author gives both copious notes and large "further reading" lists. He WANTS his books to be thought provoking enough to spur people on to do THEIR OWN research and make up THEIR OWN minds. If someone thinks it is shallow, then they have missed the point of the book. The author does not claim to be Thomas Aquinas or Kurt Godel or Albert Tucker - he just uses them to bring up and explore various topics. If people wish to disagree with the scant number of conclusions (almost everything in the book is in the form of a question, which doesn't preclude conclusions being drawn, but in general the point is to bring up the questions, not to answer them as well), then let them. That doesn't mean the book is not worth reading!
The writing itself is fluid and understandable, and while Mr. Pickover does not explore every topic as thoroughly as I would like, I don't think we should expect a 1000 page book out him either. As with many of Mr. Pickover's books, he does skip from one topic to the next in a somewhat disconcerting fashion - until you get used to it. So it might not be for every reader - but it IS a good primer on the subject, and a great place to start if you are interested in the results and paradoxes that exist if omniscience exists. | | The Paradox of God and the Science of Omniscience by Palgrave Macmillan Product Description | In his most ambitious book yet, Clifford Pickover bridges the gulf between logic, spirit, science, and religion. While exploring the concept of omniscience, Pickover explains the kinds of relationships limited beings can have with an all-knowing God. Pickover's thought exercises, controversial experiments, and practical analogies help us transcend our ordinary lives while challenging us to better understand our place in the cosmos and our dreams of a supernatural God. Through an inventive blend of science, history, philosophy, science fiction, and mind-stretching brainteasers, Pickover unfolds the paradoxes of God like no other writer. He provides glimpses into the infinite, allowing us to think big, and to have daring, limitless dreams.
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