Book Review: Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation by George Musser

Book Cover

Recently, I've made it an aim to try and get through the majority of the unread books that are sitting untouched on my bookshelf. This has been quite fun and I've ended up reading a whole bunch of different genres from non-fiction science related things (like the one I'm about to discus) to spirituality guides (not my fav tbh), murder mysteries (much more fun), and some 2020 BookTok classics (shout out to ACOTAR). Since this is a science-related blog I'll save you my reviews of what my sister calls "silly fairy romance books" and give you the heavy science ones instead, a category that Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation by George Musser fits right into.

George Musser is a well respected science writer and an editor at Scientific American. He has written numerous books including The Complete Idiot's Guide to String Theory, and Spooky Action at a Distance: The Phenomenon That Reimagines Space and Time. This was the first book of his that I have read and it tackled a very complex topic in a relatively clear (if you have the patience to get your head round quantum theory) way. The book was definitely interesting, and I did learn a lot. That being said, there were points that did confuse me, but maybe this was due to my lack of AI knowledge or the fact I was trying to read it mostly on the tube during my commutes which is not the most conducive environment for deep thinking. So I would warn any prospective readers that its a book that requires concentration to read! Despite this, it gave me A LOT to think about and I do recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about quantum theory, neural networks, and the intersection of quantum physics and neuroscience.

The first thing the book covered was a basic introduction to neural networks and how they are relevant in the fields of both AI and neuroscience. Tbh I found this chapter a little boring and is probably why I never got round to finishing the book the first time I tried when I bought it back in 2024 - but this os just a personal lack of interest. It then (in my opinion) got much more exciting when it began to dive into quantum mechanics. I am someone who likes to think I have a good understanding of a broad rage of subjects in science; quantum theory and quantum mechanics being one of them. I did, in fact, even do a lecture course on quantum chemistry covering the classics like Schrodinger's equation, wave numbers, and wave-particle duality in my first year of uni so I should in theory have the basics down. But this was a while ago and my mind defo needed a refresher. The book was really good at explaining it and I really did get a reminder of how quantum theory and the observer effect (which the book had a whole chapter dedicated to) works. After this chapter, Musser went on to use the fact that a "sentient observer" is needed to give a definite state to quantum particles to start to link quantum physics with neuroscience - bringing in the sentient part. AI also came in to play here when discussing how AI models are trying to replicate the way in which humans observe the universe, in essence looking into if can we make AI sentient. There was also a bunch of statistical stuff and more on neural networks that I can' really remember but overall I found the concept of , and the ideas brought up in, the book fascinating.

The thing that really stuck with me for weeks after I finished reading it though was not even about quantum mechanics or AI at all. It was the fact that we are just a consciousness living in a human body. If I'm being totally honest this really plagued my mind for a good few weeks when every so often I would e going about my day and then remember that I was "just a brain", so warning to anyone reading this book that maybe try not to deep that part as much as I did lol.

Overall though, great book for anyone interested in the intersection between AI, quantum physics, and consciousness. Definitely heavy on the science but also not too jam packed with tricky jargon and had a bunch of diagrams/images which always make thins easier to grasp. I would recommend giving it a read!