Drawing from the horizons of science, today's leading thinkers reveal
the hidden threats nobody is talking about--and expose the false fears
everyone else is distracted by.
What should we be worried about? That is the question John Brockman,
publisher of Edge.org ("The world's smartest website"--The Guardian),
posed to the planet's most influential minds. He asked them to disclose
something that, for scientific reasons, worries them--particularly
scenarios that aren't on the popular radar yet. Encompassing
neuroscience, economics, philosophy, physics, psychology, biology, and
more--here are 150 ideas that will revolutionize your understanding of
the world.
Steven Pinker uncovers the real risk factors for war ● Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi peers into the coming virtual abyss ● Nobel laureate
Frank Wilczek laments our squandered opportunities to prevent global
catastrophe ● Seth Lloyd calculates the threat of a financial black hole
● Alison Gopnik on the loss of childhood ● Nassim Nicholas Taleb
explains why firefighters understand risk far better than economic
"experts" ● Matt Ridley on the alarming re-emergence of superstition ●
Daniel C. Dennett and george dyson ponder the impact of a major
breakdown of the Internet ● Jennifer Jacquet fears human-induced damage
to the planet due to "the Anthropocebo Effect" ● Douglas Rushkoff fears
humanity is losing its soul ● Nicholas Carr on the "patience deficit" ●
Tim O'Reilly foresees a coming new Dark Age ● Scott Atran on the
homogenization of human experience ● Sherry Turkle explores what's lost
when kids are constantly connected ● Kevin Kelly outlines the looming
"underpopulation bomb" ● Helen Fisher on the fate of men ● Lawrence
Krauss dreads what we don't know about the universe ● Susan Blackmore on
the loss of manual skills ● Kate Jeffery on the death of death ● plus J.
Craig Venter, Daniel Goleman, Virginia Heffernan, Sam Harris, Brian Eno,
Martin Rees, and more
