The Universe - Solved! [Hardcover]

Jim Elvidge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 2008

What if reality isn't really what you think it is?
What if our world was just a big video game?

It's actually not as far-fetched as it seems, says Jim Elvidge. Within 30 years, we will be able to create virtual environments indistinguishable from our reality. Within a few more decades, even physical realities will be manufactured. And we are marching toward an inevitable merge with machines. What's more, it is actually impossible to tell whether or not we have already reached that point.

An expert in complex computational systems, with over 20 years of research in cosmology, quantum mechanics, philosophy, anomalies, and futurism, Jim Elvidge presents a theory of reality so perfect, so powerful, that it explains all known scientific and cultural anomalies. Why is the universe so perfectly designed to support life and matter? Why does life feel like it is accelerating? Why do people see UFOs? Is there life after death?

The evidence is actually all around us, within us, and present in every decision we make. This book may completely change the way you look at your world, your life, your friends and family, and the PC on your desk.

Editorial Reviews

Review

We have recently been inundated by a spate of books on the "science-religion" controversy. They all confuse science with reductionist materialism and religion with fundamentalism. Elvidge's book is one of the notable exceptions. Unfortunately, none of the exceptions are receiving the attention of the rich publishers or the mainstream media. This is all in keeping with the modern cultural trend towards oversimplification of every issue. My hope is that this book will reverse the trend. --Ranan Banerji, Ph.D. Physics, author of "Society, Scientists and the Spirit"

About the Author

Jim Elvidge holds a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. He has applied his training in the high-tech world as a leader in technology and enterprise management, including many years in executive roles for various companies and entrepreneurial ventures. He also holds 4 patents in digital signal processing.

Beyond the high-tech realm, however, Elvidge has years of experience as a musician, writer, and truth seeker. He merged his technology skills with his love of music, developed one of the first PC-based digital music samplers, and co-founded RadioAMP, the first private-label online streaming-radio company.

For many years, Elvidge has kept pace with the latest research, theories, and discoveries in the varied fields of subatomic physics, cosmology, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and the paranormal. This unique knowledge base has provided the foundation for his first full-length book, The Universe-Solved! .

Product Details

• Hardcover: 270 pages
• Publisher: AT Press; 1st edition (January 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1424336260
• ISBN-13: 978-1424336265
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #224,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solved??? Well not quite., March 28, 2008

By 

William Vanmeter (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Universe - Solved! (Hardcover)

"Many" of us have pondered by now whether we might be living in a virtual reality. But few people take this option seriously. Jim Elvidge does, and so do I. His book is the first ever, I think, devoted solely to this topic--one that has preoccupied me for most of my life. I read it in one sitting. It's an excellent start.
His arguments are roughly as follows. 1)Virtual reality simulations are technically feasible. 2) Virtual reality fits well with physical observations of our reality (e.g. the discontinuous nature of space and time) 3) Virtual reality would explain some knotty problems associated with our reality (the paradoxes of quantum mechanics, fine tuning, and the big bang among others) 4) V. R. also explains a variety of "anomalies" in our lives . These include things paranormal, out of body and near death experiences, UFO's , altered mind states, and unbelievable coincidences. Elvidge devotes a lot of space to this area and has come up with some good examples but these rarely experienced and poorly documented events, which I have never encountered personally, do not work for me.
The beauty and the problem with virtual reality is that it explains almost anything - from the cosmic to the trivial -quantum entanglement at a distance, Elvis sightings, cornflakes that look like Jesus, Jesus. Invoking V.R. to solve the universe is akin to a novelist extracting his hero from an impossible pickle by having him wake from a dream.
We really need stronger evidence. Our unlikely place in civilization's time line is one item that Elvidge gives some attention. But what else? A student probably spoke for the masses when she observed that if she is living in a virtual reality "the graphics are great, but the plot sucks." In comparison to what is possible I suspect that even the graphics are only so so . But what about the plot? Why do so many bad things happen to good people and vice versa? Who would do this to us and why? Elvidge just barely touches on this in his last chapter. And the rest of the evidence? It's out there, but not in this book.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book to blast reality to smithereens and then put it back together in infinite ways., January 29, 2008

By 

K. Hughes "emother" (Adrian, PA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Universe - Solved! (Hardcover)

The Universe - Solved!
FINALLY, a book that will do more than just pose questions and present hypotheses! All that is needed to digest this fine melange of the scientific and metaphysical is an open mind. Elvidge presents his own mix in grand style building upon and crumbling to pieces the time-worn yawns of "why are we here" and "is there more than this". He draws from every angle of the the "known"- from Hollywood and dreams to particle physics and nanotechnology to the cosmos; all laid upon a finely diced bed of humor and pop-culture reference- for a mind-expanding, door-opening, myth-blasting journey that puts words to that "niggling sensation" of our own concepts of reality. Some if it may be a bit disconcerting or just a bit humbling but this book is sure to make a huge impact on many fronts. It is a must-read for anyone who has ever posed the question of existence.

Elvidge knows his stuff- behind the droll humor is good pure science and research. To imagine is to create- and whose creations are we? And in which game are we the players? Our consciousness, our being, our "stuff" and our perceptions are all put into another perspective, layer upon layer.
This book is guaranteed to make you think outside of any box that you could ever imagine!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A very good preamble to the discussion, March 7, 2009

By 

Michael Schuyler - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Universe - Solved! (Hardcover)

I liked this book. The author is particularly adept at taking complex ideas such as quantum mechanics and holography and distilling them into language a non-mathematician can understand. When he deals with contemporary science, Ray Kurzweil-style singularity issues and programming concepts he is really good. But when he ventures into relatively unknown territory such as the paranormal and UFOs, he obviously is not quite as familiar with those fields and seems unaware of the serious controversies surrounding some of his chosen examples, which are anecdotal and sound somewaht like the pages of Fortean Times. His 'synthesis' chapter seven seeks to pull this all together, but here he makes some serious stretches and leaps of faith. The Universe is granular, he says, therefore this suggests a computer which deals in bits and bytes and may not have quite enough memory. He also makes great use of the Anthropic Principle, i.e.: The Universe is the way it is because we are here to see it and manages to turn that into Intelligent Design, with the designer being a programmer. Chapter Seven, then, sounds like an introductory chapter or preface, to be followed by an in-depth analysis of these ideas. Perhaps it will be in a subsequent book, but it's not here. I would give this 4 stars, but knocked one off because of the numerous grammar errors (or, as he says, 'grammer') making one wish for a proofreader who had gone beyond 'Grammar' School.