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Jan Westerhoff :Reality: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)before purchasing it in order to gage whether or not it would beworth my time, and all praised Reality: A Very Short Introduction(Very Short Introductions):

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A brief overviewof what it means to be real, and what it might mean to not beByBernie GourleyIf one has an inquisitive nature and finds oneselfwith a bit of time on onersquo;s hands, one is likely to questionreality eventually. What is reality? What does it mean to be real?(Yeah, just like Morpheusrsquo;s ldquo;How do you definelsquo;real?rsquo;rdquo;) How could we know if we werenrsquo;t inthe reality we think we are? Does it matter? i.e. If we arenrsquo;tin the reality we think we are, do we have any other choice than tobehave as if we aremdash;in other words is there any hope ofescaping whatever unreality our consciousness exists in?Does thequantum world not make a lick of sense relative to the world as weknow it because the ancestors who are simulating us never expectedus to get far enough to investigate that scale before we crashed?And now, like the writers and directors of an unexpectedly popularand long-lived TV show, they have to find a way to cobble someconvincing story together because their overlords arenrsquo;twilling to scrap a perfectly functional simulation as itrsquo;schurning out huge amounts of data. Of course most people quicklydismiss such possibilities as sci-fi, butmdash;then againmdash;thatdismissal is what one would do if one was programmed to bepsychologically pained by the idea that the lunatic shouting andrunning naked through the streets may have found freedom, whileyou--who appears to be fully successful in living lifemdash;are anautomaton, a slave pure and simple?Philosopher Jan Westerhoffprovides a brief survey of the many ways reality has beenquestioned over time and what evidence proponents citemdash;or, ifnot evidence per se, what inexplicable phenomena at least make thepossibility seem feasible. The book consists of just four chapters.The first chapter offers a context by discussing dreams andsimulations. Dreams are one of humanityrsquo;s first sources ofdoubt about reality. This was most famously summed up by the Taoistphilosopher Zhuangzirsquo;s quote ldquo;Now I do not know whether Iwas then a man dreaming he was a butterfly, or whether I am now abutterfly, dreaming I am a man.rdquo; The simulation hypothesissuggests that societies eventually develop a capacity to runextremely advanced simulations that would feel very real, and,furthermore, the proliferation of such simulations would make itmuch more likely that we are in one than in a real world.The nextthree chapters examine three subjects where reality is taken forgranted, but which each face challenges. The author starts with themost basic component of reality, matter. If you ask someone howthey know the world is real, they might just knock on wood or kicka stone. Of course, that response only goes so far because thereare a lot of entities we consider real that arenrsquo;t made ofmatter (e.g. is an economic recession real?) and so itrsquo;sdefinitely not a complete way of looking at the topic. Therersquo;salso the fact that all this hard and solid stuff we experience ismostly empty space. In this chapter, Westerhoff spends much of histime examining the basics of quantum mechanics, and the quantumstrangeness that has put it in the minds of many that the world isprobably not what we think it to be.Chapter three explores thereality of a person. This is where people have the hardest timequestioning reality, because most of us are quite certain that weexist. Descartes statement of: ldquo;I think, therefore, I amrdquo;nicely sums it up. But is there a place associated with personhood,or is it an emergent property? If it has a point of origin, whereis it? Westerhoff describes the famous rubber hand experiment thatshows that the connection between mind and body is more illusorythan we think. He discusses many of the syndromes that challengeour intuitive beliefs about what it means to be a person, e.g.Cotard syndrome, in which individuals firmly believe that theydonrsquo;t exist. (Note: this topicmdash;at least the scientificdimensionmdash;is covered in detail in Anil Ananthaswamyrsquo;sbook ldquo;The Man Who Wasnrsquo;t There.rdquo;)Chapter fourexplores whether time is really what we think it is, and what itfeels like to us. A lot of this chapter takes up findings aboutfree will. A famous study in the neurosciences showed that beforepeople make a decision at a conscious level, there is activation ofsubconscious parts of the brain such that what feels like adecision freely and consciously made is actually already madebefore the consciousness ever becomes aware of it. This study, nowoverwhelmingly validated by replication, presents a major challengeto our notion of free willmdash;which isnrsquo;t to suggestwersquo;re necessarily being fed a decision from some mysteriouselsewhere but if some combination of our limbic and enteric nervoussystems are making decisions without conscious input, then what isthe nature of freedom in free will?The book has an interestingConclusion that gives the reader a map to consider the various waysreality might exist (or not.) This isnrsquo;t a dichotomousquestionmdash;i.e. itrsquo;s not necessarily a matter of the worldis real or itrsquo;s not. Instead, it can be thought of more as acontinuum between everything is real and nothing is real withvarious waypoints in between such as ldquo;I am all that isrealrdquo; or ldquo;Everything is real, but merdquo; and variousways of considering how some of the world might be real while someof it is not. Among the latter models, the relevant factor maybeconsciousness (i.e. conscious may be unreal or maybe itrsquo;s theonly thing thatrsquo;s real.)There are a number of graphics used tosupport the text, most of these are photographs and artworks, butsome are diagrams. There is a ldquo;References and FurtherReadingsrdquo; section in this book that is more substantial thanmost of the ones Irsquo;ve seen in AVSI (A Very Short Introduction)series books. Itrsquo;s organized by chapter.Irsquo;d recommendthis book for anyone interested in the topic. I think the authordoes a great job in a small space of introducing variousconceptions of reality. He draws on well-known works of film andliterature to help clarify issues, and provides manythought-provoking ideas. Itrsquo;s readable and doesnrsquo;t getbogged down in minutiae.0 of 0 people found the following reviewhelpful. Exciting read!By Don S. AsperThis is a wonderful andexciting book. For me it reads like a thriller. This is the onlybook I'm aware of that concisely summarizes and organizes this manyworld-views, encompassing aspects of physics, computation andphilosophy. They are presented with reasonable depth (given thebook's size) as well as breadth, and are arranged so that you get asense of their relationship to one another and how they developed.The philosophical arguments include major ideas from Eastern aswell as Western schools of thought, juxtaposing scientific andmeditative traditions: science meets "emptiness".0 of 0 peoplefound the following review helpful. What is real?By Randolph EckJanWesterhoff introduces us here to the subject of reality. Have youever pondered the question: What is real? If so, you might beinterested in this short introduction. Let me tell you that thisbook, being short, can only whet your appetite for the subject. Theauthor covers simulations and dreams ndash; are we in one? Otherquestions are pondered as well. Is matter real? There are fivedefinitions of reality, which are explored in more detail. He thendiscusses the notion: are we real? Some things discussed are theldquo;Cartesian theater,rdquo; beta phenomenon, many worldsinterpretation, and readiness potential. Is time real? Here we ourintroduced to three possible configurations of the universe:growing, block, and presentism. Itrsquo;s all interesting stuff,and itrsquo;s a bit mind boggling.

What is real?' has been one of the key questions of philosophysince its beginning in antiquity. It is a question that, due tosuch films as The Matrix, has also made its way into popularculture. But it is not just a question philosophers ask. It is alsoasked by scientists when they investigate whether the fundamentalconstituents of matter are actually 'out there' or just a mereabstraction from a successful theory. Cognitive scientists ask itwhentrying to find out which set of the bewildering array of dataprocessed by our brain could constitute the basis for suchsupposedly fundamental entities like the free agent or theself.This Very Short Introduction discusses what reality is bylooking at a variety of arguments, theories and thought-experimentsfrom philosophy, physics, and cognitive science.ABOUT THE SERIES:The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Presscontains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. Thesepocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a newsubject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis,perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting andchallenging topics highly readable.

About the AuthorJan Westerhoff is Lecturer in Philosophy at theUniversity of Durham.

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