Difference between revisions of "Fantastisch, over het universum in ons hoofd"

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Comments on Kris Verburgh's Fantastisch! (Fantastic, about the universe in our head)

On Kris Verburgh's website, there's also a detailed description of the book with link to online book stores.

((A comment on Kris Verburg's "Fantastisch, over het universum in ons hoofd" is in the process of being written for this Wiki, including some additional information that makes his total picture of humanity and its world even more complete, removing some of the last few burning questions and paradoxes that had remained.))

"Because we cannot know everything about something, it is better to know something about everything" Blaise Pascal

Fantastisch! not only deals with the universe, or Darwin, or the brain, but unifies all three realms of research into one fantastic story, covering fourteen billion years, in order to give an answer to the question: what does it mean to be human ?

Fantastisch! deals with the emergence of life, about the evolution theory, about how the brain works, consciousness, thinking computers, quantum mechanics and religion. Due also to recent scientific discoveries, Fantastisch! also wants to answer the last, ultimate question: does a supreme being exist? Is there more than just matter and energy? To that end the author introduces a new concept, the context story, built on three pillars, to enable the reader in that way to reach his/her own ultimate decision by him/herself. Fantastisch! not only deals with science, but is also a philosophical and spiritual book, trying to evoke feelings of wonder, just as the capacity to put ourselves into perspective. That way the reader is triggered to experience reality in a new and different way.

General comments

Kris published this book in 2007. It contains a general overview of the world we live in and the way we humans tic. It is scientifically sound and thorough, but nevertheless quite easy to read and to grasp by a broad public. It is in fact the most attractive and comprehensive treatise on the how and the why of our existence ythat I ever encountered. Written by a 21 years old student from Belgium, it is fresh and clean, not contaminated by any of our contemporary ruling systems of belief and superstition. Kris is a free-thinker and it shows. He also shows to be remarkably erudite and his depicting of the world is rather exhaustive and complete in view of what is known as of today and what is scientifically well established. Still, in spite of the completeness of Verburgh's picture, based on what is scientificaaly known, we would like to add at least two important notions that we consider crucial for a complete understanding of the human position in this world at this time. These two notions will increase the power of Kris' comprehensive overview even further and will give humanity even better tools to take its own future into its own hands, to the advantage of all. Before discussing these two additional chunks of information, let's summarize some paragraphs of Kris' book that illustrate the general line of his thinking.

Some headlines from "Fantastic, about the universe in our head"

What would be the result if we now put together our capacity for fantasy, for self-conceit and for gullibility? The result is not Homo sapiens or the wise man, but Homo fantasia or man, extolling itself in gullible fantasies. (Those who know Latin will note that fantasia is not a correct Latin word, but Homo fantasia probably wouldn't care: it sounds good.) Maybe you think I am exaggerating. After all, man seems more 'wise' than 'full of fantasies'? For sure, man is endowed with enormous cognitive skills. But these skills blind us to such an extent that we end up believing that man merely is 'wise'. The insight that we are peculiarly sensitive to dreams and illusions, in my view is an important discovery. People are beings that are willing to die for their 'truths'. If we then note that we are not designed to know the ultimate truths and that we very readily believe all sorts of un-truths, then this entails quite some revelation. This explains so many phenomena in our society that we find all over the place, from horoscopes in newspapers till the capacity to let ourselves be carried away to other fantasy worlds by looking at some tiny letters on paper or pictures on large cinema screens. Thus, Homo fantasia is a species, mad for fantastic stories and made-up creativity. Moreover, we are a species the members of which like to overestimate themselves, indulging in pride and vanity. We are creatures who believe that we are the purposefully created products of a superior being, thinking that after death we are fully entitled to live on for ever, trying to find a meaning behind everything, frantically searching continuously for spectacular experiences that might lift us out of daily reality, highly upward into heaven. We are creatures that are staying permanently in a rush of unconscious self-aggrandizing illusions, who believe that they are predestined for playing a role in grand affairs. This sense of universal megalomania can even be found in great philosophers.