Quake3World

Posted: **Sat Nov 19, 2005 9:47 pm**

Anyone read it? The publisher is providing a free ebook copy of it; I'm just about to go print it off and talk about it with my roomates. Apparently its a thought exercise which makes you question all your beliefs and the way you perceive your own development.

http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/godsdebris/

Why is it Free?

Frankly, this is the hardest book in the world to market. When it first came out in hardcover, booksellers couldn’t decide if it was fiction or nonfiction. Was it philosophy or religion? It’s a religion/science book written by a cartoonist, using hypnosis techniques in the writing. It’s a thought experiment. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever read. How do you sell something that can’t be explained?

Nonetheless, the hardcover version of God's Debris was a solid success. I lost count of how many people e-mailed me to say it was the best book they’ve ever read. By way of comparison, I’ve published over thirty Dilbert™ books, two of them number-one New York Times best-sellers, but I’ve never gotten the kind of excited responses that I did from readers of God's Debris.

Still, God's Debris is emphatically not for everyone. Although there’s no sex or violence, I don’t recommend it for readers under fourteen unless a parent has screened it. And if you don’t like to have your perceptions challenged, this book isn’t for you. However, if you like a good book-induced buzz now and then, I think you’ll agree that the price was right.

It’s free because it’s designed to be discussed with people who have also read it. I’m confident that some percentage of the free e-book readers will be inspired to buy a physical book for friends or for their own collection. And if you like it, you might want to try the sequel, The Religion War, available only in hardcover. At the end of the e-book you’ll find some links to Amazon.com for your impulse-buying pleasure.

Synopsis

Imagine that you meet a very old man who—you eventually realize—knows literally everything. Imagine that he explains for you the great mysteries of life—quantum physics, evolution, God, gravity, light, psychic phenomenon, and probability—in a way so simple, so novel, and so compelling that it all fits together and makes perfect sense. What does it feel like to suddenly understand everything? God's Debris isn’t the final answer to the Big Questions. But it might be the most compelling vision of reality you will ever read. The thought experiment is this: Try to figure out what’s wrong with the old man’s explanation of reality. Share the book with your smart friends then discuss it later while enjoying a beverage.

Posted: **Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:06 pm**

Cool, giving it a read now.

Posted: **Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:23 pm**

A fantastic read.

Posted: **Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:35 pm**

Ima reed it too.

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 12:47 am**

More like

"If you are offended by a fictional character's untraditional view of God, please stop breathing."

amirite?

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 12:58 am**

I'm now at the 40th page.
Any of you read it all already?

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 1:36 am**

pete wrote:I'm now at the 40th page.
Any of you read it all already?

n00b. i'm at page 46.

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 1:54 am**

Yeah I read through the lot before I posted.

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 1:59 am**

riddla wrote:whatever, I'm finished because I never started. now there's a thought experiment for you.

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:10 am**

i got halfway thru before i was totally underwhelmed by it

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:12 am**

lol @ the predictable intellectual ego responses.

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:46 am**

Foo wrote:lol @ the predictable intellectual ego responses.

It fuckin sucked (I didn't read it).

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:47 am**

dont lie seremtan.

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:48 am**

Someone read it and review it.

I'm still waiting on Hannibal's review of that ID book he read over the summer.

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:48 am**

Halfway through it now, approximately. Well-written and smart so far.

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:48 am**

I'm printing it off tomorrow so I can read it on the airplane tuesday

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:50 am**

-Replicant- wrote:I'm printing it off tomorrow so I can read it on the airplane tuesday

Print it as 4 pages in 1, it should save on ink and still remain legible.

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:56 am**

Nevermind, I retract my statement, Ima bored as hell now. Time to play wolf.

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 2:58 am**

Massive Quasars wrote:Someone read it and review it.

I'm still waiting on Hannibal's review of that ID book he read over the summer.

Short Review: it's good, probably the best collection of articles on the topic. But frankly, the weight of evidence and argument is so one sided I simply lost interest in the topic (as an intellectual matter, it certainly matters politically).

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 3:02 am**

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 3:05 am**

Massive Quasars wrote:Someone read it and review it.

I'm still waiting on Hannibal's review of that ID book he read over the summer.

You can read it in PDF form in under an hour without skimming it. In summary, it's written in the style of an extremely long philosophical hypothetical scenario (one of those 'Aristotle talks to God' type things). It's an extrapolated analysis of a stereotypical world view vs an example unified theory. It's not scientific in term, but straddles the subjects of science and religion and proposes an example of unity between the 2.

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 8:56 am**

nice read

some interesting ideas, though somewhat flaky applications of the probability paradigm to ESP and evolution.

good introduction to issues like free will and relativity.

i think he made a mistake about gravity being instantaneous, but wasn't a key point anyway.

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 12:56 pm**

Foo wrote:lol @ the predictable intellectual ego responses.

yes foo that's what it is

i just got bored, though i might read the other half, see if it has any car chases or gunplay in it

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 9:13 pm**

I'd like to read it but can't open any pdf files at werk

Posted: **Sun Nov 20, 2005 9:32 pm**

Kracus wrote:I'd like to read it but can't open any pdf files at werk

Are you sure? It's a book.