Readers interested in subjects such as the philosophy of science and the future of humanity will enjoy Yuri Milner’s Eureka Manifesto: The Mission of Our Civilization (2021) .
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Billionaire tech investor Yuri Milner believes that humanity must embrace a collective mission to ensure our long-term survival. His manifesto lays out this vision, touching on important themes such as human progress and the Universal Story.
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About Yuri Milner
With a net worth of approximately $5.9 billion, Milner amassed his wealth by investing in successful internet companies such as Facebook and Twitter. Before his investing career, he was a tech company founder and, before that, a theoretical physicist. In 2012, he signed the Giving Pledge, promising to support scientific initiatives through his Breakthrough Foundation.
The Breakthrough Foundation helps fund various scientific initiatives , including the Breakthrough Prize and the Breakthrough Junior Competition. The foundation has also committed $2.5 million to support a new outreach center at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
Ideas explored by Yuri Milner Eureka Manifesto
In the Eureka Manifesto, Yuri Milner presents humanity’s shared mission: to explore and understand our universe. He suggests that our intellectual capacity for such exploration and understanding means that this is our innate purpose.
“In a sense, we were chosen,” Milner explains. “Not intentionally. But in the dance of chance and time, we found ourselves in a form that could be explored and understood. It’s our gift. Our precious birthright. 1.To be awake.2. To have a mind formed from matter. 3.To look at the world and understand.”
Milner goes on to explain why we should be part of this mission and how we can further our progress as a civilization. He delves into concepts such as failed enlightenment, the feedback loop between science and technology, the possibility of interstellar travel, Copernican heliocentrism, Universal History, and phase transitions.
Copernican heliocentrism
The ancient Greeks first proposed a geocentric view of the universe, in which the Earth is the center of everything, around 380 BCE. 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 revolving around it.
Today we know that the visible universe is more than 93 billion light-years across and nearly 14 billion years old. Milner says these discoveries about the cosmos have provided “a grander vision of the cosmos, but a more modest view of itself.”
Universal history
Universal history is Milner’s term for the evolution of the cosmos from a singularity to the complex system we see around us today. The history portrays humans as rare conscious life forms in a vast cosmos and products of unfolding processes in the universe.
Through our existence, the Universe has developed the ability to reflect and understand itself. In the context of Universal History, humans are the instruments by which the cosmos learns about its origins, nature, and mechanisms.
Phase transitions
Phase transitions are the “rhythms” of Universal History; “critical changes of state” that created order out of chaos. These plot points include:
- Cooling of matter after the Big Bang and the formation of atoms.
- The appearance of cells on Earth.
- Evolution of multicellular organisms and complex intelligent life.
- Development of communication, allowing the dissemination of knowledge between groups and generations.
- Dawn of Science.
Yuri Milner adds that we may be in the middle of a new phase transition that will change the nature of knowledge: the evolution of intelligence from human to artificial. He advocates channeling more AI research into fundamental science to answer 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 presents a clear and concise vision of the future of humanity that readers have found inspiring and thought-provoking. At nearly 100 pages long, the book leaves a lasting impression, effectively and succinctly delivering its central message.
Find out more about Yuri Milner’s Eureka Manifesto .
