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

Author: John Brockman
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Published: 02/11/2014
Series: Edge Question
Pages: 528
Weight: 0.9lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.20w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780062296238


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 11/04/2013
Booklist 12/01/2013 pg. 16
Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2014
People Weekly 03/10/2014 pg. 61
Choice 12/01/2014 pg. 634

About the Author
Brockman, John: -

The publisher of the online science salon Edge.org, John Brockman is the editor of Know This, This Idea Must Die, This Explains Everything, This Will Make You Smarter, and other volumes.