Readers interested in topics such as the philosophy of science and the future of humanity will enjoy Yuri Milner’s The Eureka Manifesto: A Mission for Our Civilization (2021) .
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Yuri Milner, a billionaire technology investor, believes that humanity must embrace a collective mission to ensure our long-term survival. His manifesto lays out this vision by addressing critical topics such as human progress and world history.
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About Yuri Milner
With a net worth of approximately $5.9 billion, Milner made his fortune by investing in successful internet companies such as Facebook and Twitter. Before his investing career, he was a founder of a technology company and before that, a theoretical physicist. In 2012, he signed the Giving Pledge, pledging to support scientific causes through his Breakthrough Foundation.
The Breakthrough Foundation helps fund various science-based initiatives, including the Breakthrough Prize and the Breakthrough Junior Challenge. The foundation has also committed $2.5 million to support a new information center at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
Yuri Milner’s ideas are explored in the Eureka Manifesto
In The Eureka Manifesto, Yuri Milner presents a shared mission for humanity: to explore and understand our universe. He suggests that our intellectual capacity for this exploration and understanding means that this is our innate purpose.
“In a way, we were chosen,” Milner explains. “Not intentionally. But in the dance of chance and time, we ended up in a form that can be explored and understood. It’s our gift. Our precious birthright. 1.To be awake.2. To have minds formed from matter. 3.To look at the world and understand.”
Milner then explains why we should participate in this mission and how we can advance our progress as a civilization. He delves into concepts such as the failed enlightenment, the feedback loop between science and technology, the possibilities of interstellar travel, Copernican heliocentrism, the history of the universe, and phase transitions.
Copernicus’ heliocentrism
The ancient Greeks first proposed a geocentric view of the universe, in which the Earth was the center of everything, around 380 BC. In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus published his alternative model of the solar system. This heliocentric model placed the Sun at the center, with the Earth and other planets orbiting around it.
Today, we know that the visible universe is over 93 billion light-years across and almost 14 billion years old. Milner says these discoveries about the cosmos have revealed “a larger vision of the cosmos, but a more modest vision of ourselves.”
Universal story
Universal history is Milner’s term for the evolution of the cosmos from a singularity to the intricate system we see around us today. The history views humans as rare conscious life forms in a vast cosmos and products of processes unfolding in the universe.
Through our existence, the universe has developed the ability to reflect on itself and understand itself. In the context of World History, humans are the instruments through which the cosmos becomes aware of its origin, nature, and mechanisms.
Phase transitions
Phase transitions are the “beats” of Universal History; the “critical changes of state” that have created order out of chaos. These stories include:
- Cooling of matter after the Big Bang and the formation of atoms.
- The emergence of cells on Earth.
- The evolution of multicellular organisms and complex, intelligent life.
- Developing communication that allows knowledge to be shared between groups and generations.
- The dawn of science.
Yuri Milner adds that we may be in the midst of a new phase transition that will change the nature of knowledge: the evolution of intelligence from human to artificial. He advocates that more AI research be directed towards fundamental science, to find answers to the deepest mysteries of the universe and improve our lives.
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An inspiring and thought-provoking read
Although the Eureka Manifesto covers ambitious topics, Milner’s writing style makes the material accessible. His manifesto outlines a clear, concise vision for the future of humanity that readers have found inspiring and thought-provoking. At around 100 pages, the book makes a lasting impression, effectively and concisely conveying its main message.
Learn more about Yuri Milner’s Eureka Manifesto .
