Kirkus Review

KIRKUS REVIEW OF `SIX WORDS` AND MY RESPONSE TO THE KIRKUS REVIEW

The Kirkus Review on `Six Words` ..obtained through `Create Space` was not very kind to me. But I selected certain excerpts from the Kirkus Review for publishing in the book, that were not so unkind. These are given below:

 Excerpts from Kirkus Review that were selected for incorporation in the book:     

“…a treatise that ponders the laws of physics, the history of the cosmos, the nature of God and the fate of mankind.

“…kind of “autobiography” of his existence, starting with the formation of his constituent subatomic particles…” “… It begins with a brief, engaging account of cosmology from the Big Bang through the evolution of life. The book then turns to more involved (and less successful) explorations of advanced physics, including the mysteries of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, “quantum entanglement” and the relativistic paradoxes of travel near the speed of light…”

“… The book’s sixth chapter comprises a fanciful “seminar” of great thinkers—from Immanuel Kant to Albert Einstein to contemporary physicist Freeman Dyson…”

“… All this background sets up a section on Sagar’s own philosophical speculations, which mix such topics as the anthropic principle—which says that fundamental constants must be able to support the life-forms that observe them—with the quantum mechanics mysticism…”

“…Sagar theorizes that God is an abstract “all intelligent omnipresent…infinite mind”; that humans may eventually merge into the divine “Super consciousness”; and that our main task is to avoid blowing ourselves up in the next few centuries—a disaster that Sagar considers a near-certainty unless everyone works for world peace…”

Now I give below the Original Kirkus Review (in total) that was conveyed to me by `Create Space` :

 

Kirkus Review as published in Kirkus.com :

“A grandiose treatise that ponders the laws of physics, the history of the cosmos, the nature of God and the fate of mankind. Sagar, an engineer, styles this tome as a kind of “autobiography” of his existence, starting with the formation of his constituent subatomic particles, but it’s more of a rambling tour of readings and musings in physics and philosophy. It begins with a brief, engaging account of cosmology from the Big Bang through the evolution of life. The book then turns to more involved (and less successful) explorations of advanced physics, including the mysteries of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, “quantum entanglement” and the relativistic paradoxes of travel near the speed of light. Sagar’s explications of these difficult topics are haphazard, sketchy and often hard to follow, and he freely admits to not fully understanding them himself. The book’s sixth chapter comprises a fanciful “seminar” of great thinkers—from Immanuel Kant to Albert Einstein to contemporary physicist Freeman Dyson—that reprints lengthy excerpts of their philosophical writings, and this material is sometimes stimulating. However, much of it will be indigestible and baffling to lay readers. All this background sets up a section on Sagar’s own philosophical speculations, which mix such topics as the anthropic principle—which says that fundamental constants must be able to support the life-forms that observe them—with the quantum mechanics mysticism popularized by Fritjof Capra’s 1975 book The Tao of Physics. Sagar theorizes that God is an abstract “all intelligent omnipresent…infinite mind”; that humans may eventually merge into the divine “Superconsciousness” and change the fundamental constants in order to forestall the death of the present universe and create a new one; and that our main task is to avoid blowing ourselves up in the next few centuries—a disaster that Sagar considers a near-certainty unless everyone works for world peace. The book’s pensées aren’t especially original or deep, and it supports them less with clear arguments than with erudite gobbledygook (“So, you rely on the strong Leibniz principle and a rough estimate on sizes of abstractly possible universes in order to settle a metaphysical dispute that is at least as undecidable with finitist means as the fine structure of the Cantor set?”). Overall, the book presents a theory of everything that could put almost any seminar room to sleep. An idiosyncratic mishmash of science and religion that’s neither intellectually compelling nor spiritually uplifting“

It is felt necessary for me to clarify and explain why I think that some of the lines in the original Kirkus review do not portray the correct picture, so I give here my views on some of these lines:

My views on some lines in the original Kirkus Review

“`

Sagar’s explications of these difficult topics are haphazard, sketchy and often hard to follow, “

Compare the above line with the following – which relate to the same explications – by the Editor of `Create Space` (as found in the `Marketing copy essentials` )

“With an eye toward appealing to all readers, Six Words contains enough basic explanations about quantum physics within the first fifty pages to allow even the most unscientific reader to understand and appreciate the impact of Sagar’s findings.“

`Often hard to follow` is fine of course …These are complex topics not fully understood `yet`, even by the greatest scientists of the World. But `haphazard, sketchy`…I do not agree. I think my explications were pretty well organised, elaborate, comprehensive, and presented in a perfect historical sequence, specially designed to enable a level of understanding which is  at all times ` optimum and commensurate` with the reader`s capacity to understand.

“and this material is sometimes stimulating. However, much of it will be indigestible and baffling to lay readers“

This comment is on the great Scientist`s and Philosopher`s views on Science and religion

That It is stimulating to some and indigestible to some …is not understood. After reading about a hundred books, I  selected some of the greatest and the most thought provoking writings on these philosophical matters, I expect it to be stimulating to most readers… perhaps baffling to some…but unlikely to be indigestible to any..in my opinion.

“The book’s pensées aren’t especially original or deep, and it supports them less with clear arguments than with erudite gobbledygook“

I checked the Oxford Dictionary, but couldn’t find the word `pensees`. I am assuming it means `thoughts`, and proceeding with that assumption. These comments by the reviewer are  far from true or appropriate and could not have been made if the reviewer had read the book in full and understood what the Six words are.  My  detailed response to these comments are clubbed with another response in  the last para of this write up.

(“So, you rely on the strong Leibniz principle and a rough estimate on sizes of abstractly possible universes in order to settle a metaphysical dispute that is at least as undecidable with finitist means as the fine structure of the Cantor set“)

This remark was made by someone (apparently a highly knowledgable and well respected person) during a conversation on huffingtonpost, and is reproduced in chapter six in the `imaginary seminar“ as part of a discussion in the seminar. It made sense to those who understood it during that conversation…it can hardly be called `Erudite gobbledygook`.

“Overall, the book presents a theory of everything that could put almost any seminar room to sleep. An idiosyncratic mishmash of science and religion that’s neither intellectually compelling nor spiritually uplifting

On the one hand it is stated that the seminar is stimulating..and on the other `it puts people to sleep`. This book is on Science and Philosophy, it is possible this is not the reviewer`s area of specialization. A philosopher who supports the idea of convergence of Science with religion could not have said what he said in the last few lines. The reviewer did not say anything about the `Six Words`..let alone any appreciation of their profound significance. These six words have the power to unite people of all religions, and in my opinion as well as in the opinion of those who understood their importance, they are indeed intellectually compelling as well as spiritually uplifting. These ‘Six Words’, as words are simple. Put together these combine into a simple sentence. How do they lead to (or ARE) the Probable Ultimate Truth? This book is an exploration into that realization. If these words are announced as a matter of fact, they are unlikely to create an impact, let alone cause euphoria. “What wishful thinking…” “Too good to be true…””Can’t be true…””Can never be proved…” These could be the expected reactions. An entire book, supported with clear arguments, needed to be written to convince the reader that these words make sense, and that there is a good chance they might be true. Indeed the book`s pensees are especially deep…very very deep….and they are original ..albeit arrived at after an extremely in depth understanding of the philosophical viewpoints of the great Scientists and philosophers who spoke in that imaginary seminar …a summam bonam of their thoughts or `pensees` whatever. “`

 My own confession and explanation on `why I wrote the book` :

“It is not that I wrote this book `Six Words`…It is that it was written by me…consequent on the interactions of the world on me. I even do not know…if this … the writing of the book is attributed  mainly to the revolving doors of chance, or to the existence of a certain “intelligent field“, that   has created   probabilities that books of this kind should be written to prevent  the human civilization from getting extinct. There is also an “Entropy field“ that  is continuously increasing disorder and chaos and leading us towards self destruction.  Will  the `intelligent field` which is currently trailing far behind, be able to overtake  the `entropy field`  before the latter reaches its winning post of destruction?. Its entirely left to us…No God of any kind will come to our rescue.“

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