The Beginning of Infinity

Why it’s on the list: Deutsch’s case that good explanations have unbounded reach — and his concept of “bad philosophy,” ideas that make problems look unsolvable by design.

Where I heard about it

• Anders K. Hvelplund (@Falliblemusings) — on X (January 2026), in a thread arguing that Harari smuggles nihilism in as scientific objectivity, with Deutsch as the corrective: “philosophy that actively prevents the growth of knowledge.”
• The replies to @WillManidis — named in his thread asking “what is the single best book you can read that will explain an entire industry?” (June 2025); the full list is on what is the single best book… (tweet).
• The replies to @SpencrGreenberg — named in his thread asking “What non-fiction book taught you the most about how the world really works?” (June 2025); the full list is on A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet).
• Li Lu — on Li Lu’s Recommended Book List, under Science, Philosophy, Evolution, History of Human Civilization, Human History.
• Unknown — saved again as an Amazon link to my “Things to read” note, October 2023.
• On Patrick Collison’s Bookshelf — Patrick Collison’s catalog of the physical books he owns, where he flags this one as particularly great (green). Saved in Kyle’s April 19th, 2020 Roam daily note.

Connections

• David Deutsch — author.
• Sapiens — the book the recommending thread was arguing against; read the pair together.
• Open Source Knowledge — knowledge growth as the thing to optimize for.
• what is the single best book… (tweet) — recommendation #2: named in this crowd-sourced thread.
• A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet) — recommendation #3: named in this crowd-sourced thread.