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A review by stefhyena
Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning by Karen Barad
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
I am surprised how many smart academic people have indicated to me that this book is hard going or difficult. I found it the opposite. Maybe this is because it took issue with the one thing from high school physics that actually grabbed me (light as a wave and/or a particle). I found Barad's careful explanations with examples crystal clear, surprisingly so and also very engaging. I raced through most of this (for a "hard" academic book I mean). I did have to slow down for some of the more complex bits and there will certainly be a need for me to revisit and keep thinking but that's part of the deal.
I already used the term ethico-onto-epistemology (did I get the order right?) in a conversation with my supervisors and they didn't tell me I did it wrong. I expected this book to make me think but I think I was expecting more tranphobic stuff to be angry about (based on arguments I have had with people where they cite this book in a way that I now think is not valid). So I wasn't expecting to really feel so positive all the way through. I often fight my way through theory with the machete of my bad attitude (probably not a good metaphor). This one surprisingly touched me in my spirituality as well as my brain.
I feel inclined to believe there is more mystery to the universe than the clinical and dead-eyed cynicism of liberal capitalism. God is not dead after all, but she may be a starfish. You don't have to agree with my spirituality to get a lot from this book, Barad keeps theology out of her metaphysics.
I already used the term ethico-onto-epistemology (did I get the order right?) in a conversation with my supervisors and they didn't tell me I did it wrong. I expected this book to make me think but I think I was expecting more tranphobic stuff to be angry about (based on arguments I have had with people where they cite this book in a way that I now think is not valid). So I wasn't expecting to really feel so positive all the way through. I often fight my way through theory with the machete of my bad attitude (probably not a good metaphor). This one surprisingly touched me in my spirituality as well as my brain.
I feel inclined to believe there is more mystery to the universe than the clinical and dead-eyed cynicism of liberal capitalism. God is not dead after all, but she may be a starfish. You don't have to agree with my spirituality to get a lot from this book, Barad keeps theology out of her metaphysics.