The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself

My score: 5⭐ (out of 5)

Sean Carroll explains us how well the "Core Theory" describes the world we live in and uses it the push forward the idea of Poetic Naturalism as a way to understand the world around us.

He defines Core Theory as the physics describing how everyday things work - and he is very comprehensive there. Core Theory considers quantum field theory, gravitation, electromagnetism, some part of nuclear physics (that explain how quarks come together to form protons and neutrons) - among other things as "the reality". Of course, Core Theory falls short in extreme environments like how quantum stuff near black holes behave, but he argues this is fine since we are not subject to that kind of physics in daily life.

This could also form the basis of Naturalism in which only the underlying Quantum Fields are the reality and nothing else exist. Sean Carroll extends Naturalism by arguing that the abstractions we form on the foundations (the quantum fields) are also real, as special arrangement of real particles, the stories are a part of reality as well - effectively avoiding the mind/matter duality. Then he sets on to discuss physical, biological, individual and social constructs with the light of Poetic Naturalism.

Well, to me, the name "Poetic Naturalism" is too to poetic for my taste. Of course the idea itself makes a lot of sense and what's better, it works! Combined with Sean Carroll's excellent writing style, it was a very nice book that I'd like to read again!

This review is also available on Goodreads.