There are several books that are often categorized as ‘genre-bending,’ but this one should be the gold standard to judge whether the term has been justifiably applied to a book. “Love and Other Thought Experiments” by Sophie Ward was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2020, which is how it made a place in my reading list. This debut novel by Sophie Ward is a humane and beautifully crafted exploration of some painfully intriguing philosophical questions, a glimpse of the dystopian future of our planet, and a vivid landscape of human relationships. Personally, this is a novel that requires faith in the author’s capability (and the judgment of the Booker Prize jury), and once you are about halfway through the novel, it shows that your faith has been paid back.

The story starts with a couple, Rachel and Eliza, planning a baby, but Rachel believes that an ant has crawled into her mind. She is not sure if Eliza believes this, but she is sure that the ant is there inside her. Despite her apprehensions and trust issues with Rachel (that she does not believe that there is an ant inside her brain), they have a child, Arthur… and you get immersed into their life thanks to Sophie Ward’s evocative writing. But this book is not any typical fiction book as the story soon meanders into different timelines, parallel universes, dystopian sci-fi, and on the way makes us go through some of the most popular philosophical thought experiments.

Each chapter starts with a thought experiment and takes the story forward, but you never feel lost. There are some pleasant surprises as the ant and an AI also become narrators, taking the story forward. The author’s deep understanding of human emotions, relationships, and philosophy (she is an actress and holds a PhD where her research explored “thought experiments in philosophy of mind and the use of narrative in philosophy, looking at issues of consciousness and AI, and the meeting between literature and philosophy”) shines in her prose and the plot.

Personally, I really liked the integration of the ‘thought experiments’ in the plot, and it was quite rewarding to put down the book after reading a chapter and think about the connections between the thought experiments and the chapter. The following are the thought experiments/philosophical puzzles that are presented in the book:

  1. Pascal’s Wager: One of the most popular thought experiments where Pascal argues that we should believe in the existence of God even though there is no proof.
  2. Prisoner’s Dilemma: The famous game theory thought experiment that explains why we might not cooperate with each other even when it is the best option for us.
  3. “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?”: Nagel presented a thought experiment on the concept of consciousness in this essay. He argues that we can know all about a bat’s brain and behavior, but we will not figure out what it is like to be a bat.
  4. David Chalmers – Philosophical Zombies: The concept that there is more to mind than brain. The philosophical zombies can be exactly the same as humans but will not have conscious experience.
  5. “What Mary Didn’t Know” – This thought experiment by Frank Jackson explores the nature of knowledge and subjective experience.
  6. The Chinese Room – This John Searle‘s thought experiment emphasizes that a computer can never truly understand the language and comprehend like us. Searle imagines that he is in a room full of Chinese symbols where he can rearrange and manipulate the Chinese symbols, but he does not understand them. Similarly, computers can perform the task without understanding what they are doing.
  7. Twin Earth – Hilary Putnam imagines two identical Earths. These two planets are identical in every way except that the other Earth has no water. It has something similar to water superficially but has a different chemical composition. This thought experiment explores semantic externalism and the concept of ‘meaning.’
  8. Plutarch’s Life of Theseus – If you replace each part of a ship one by one over time, is it a new ship or the same ship? This is the thought experiment and paradox about an object whether the object remains the same if all parts of objects are replaced one by one.
  9. Descartes’ Demon – The famous line ‘I think, therefore I am’ is the result of this thought experiment. Descartes concluded that even if a demon could deceive him about everything and control all his senses and how he perceives the world, the demon could not make him doubt his existence as a thinking being.
  10. Gilbert Harman’s Brain in a Vat – If we connect a living and functional brain (increasingly possible with the success of Neuralink) with a computer and simulate the external world, will we ever know the reality?

Overall, a great book for anyone looking to explore beyond the usual.