Culture: Leading Scientists Explore Societies, Art, Power, and Technology [Paperback]

John Brockman (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 16, 2011 | ISBN-10: 0062023136 | ISBN-13: 978-0062023131 | Edition: Original

"Theway Brockman interlaces essays about research on the frontiers of science withones on artistic vision, education, psychology and economics is sure to buzzany brain." —Chicago Sun-Times, on This Will Change Everything

Launchinga hard-hitting new series from Edge.org and Harper Perennial, editor JohnBrockman delivers this cutting-edge master class covering everything you needto know about Culture. With original contributions by the world’sleading thinkers and scientists, including Jared Diamond, Daniel C. Dennett,Brian Eno, Jaron Lanier,Nicholas Christakis, and others, Culture offers a mind-expanding primeron a fundamental topic. Unparalleled in scope, depth, insight and quality, Edge.org’s Culture is not to be missed.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Why do civilizations rise and fall?
What are the origins and purpose of art?
How does technology shape society?
Did culture direct human evolution?
Is the Internet an agent of democracy or dictatorships?

An immensely powerful but little-understood force that impacts society, art, politics, and even human biological development, culture is the very stage on which human experience plays out. But what is it, exactly? What are its rules and origins? In this fascinating volume, John Brockman, editor and publisher of Edge, presents short, accessible explorations of culture’s essential aspects, by today’s most influential scientists and thinkers.

Contributors and topics include

Jared Diamond on why societies collapse and how we can make better decisions to protect our own future • Denis Dutton on the origins of art Daniel C. Dennett on the evolution of cultures • Jaron Lanier on the ominous impact of the Internet • Nicholas Christakis on the structure and rules of social networks, both “real” and online • Clay Shirky and Evgeny Morozov on the new political reality of the digital era • Brian Eno on what cultures value Stewart Brand on the responsibilities of human power • Douglas Rushkoff on the next Renaissance • W. Daniel Hillis on the Net as a global “knowledge web”

About the Author

The founder and publisher of the influential online science salon Edge.org, John Brockman is the editor of This Will Make You Smarter, This Will Change Everything, What Is Your Dangerous Idea?, What We Believe but Cannot Prove, and other volumes. He is the CEO of the literary agency Brockman Inc., and lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; Original edition (August 16, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062023136
• ISBN-13: 978-0062023131
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,318 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #52 in Books > History > World > Civilization & Culture

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars not enough substance October 2, 2011

By algo41

Format:Paperback

I suppose the link in this compendium of essays by members of the Edge Foundation is "big ideas", but the substance is not what it should be. The first essay manages to make the exciting concept of memes dull. Brian Arthur's essay on the evolution of technology does a creditable job with the familiar idea of increasing returns (e.g. the more users you have, for an operating system or social network, the more likely you are to attract additional users). Once Arthur tries to move beyond this idea, his concept is vacuous: no implications, no empirical hypothesis, nothing to make you see the world in a different way. I would recommend Jared Diamond's essay if you are not familiar with his book on societal collapse, and also the Christakis discussion of his work on social contagion, although it gains little from the way he leads up to it. Dutton's essay is worth reading for its biographical anecdotes, discussion of animal art, and possibly for its references (note that, contrary to Dutton, Ellen Dissanayake has had several prestigious academic jobs, although apparently not a permanent position - I would love to read more about HER life). Eno's article should be skipped, noting that his discussion of the importance of metaphor is neither original nor well written. Brand's essay meanders and could also be skipped. I did not get much out of the internet essays, but those readers who enjoy reading philosophy might like them very much.

5 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A cutting edge publication. October 8, 2011

By RTLawfirm

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Culture is truly a cutting edge book. I have now read it for the third time. The title can be misleading and cause the reader to anticipate a more traditional approach to the concept of culture as a study or appraisal of existing institutions and/or social environments from an historical or empirical perspective. The essayists are the the best in their areas of expertise and offer the reader an analytical (scientific) paradigm to both evaluate and project the impact of state of the art technologies, in particular, and, intellectual revisionist thinking, generally, on the evolution of contemporary man as a phenomena of biological, and past, present and prospective environmental (including institutional) exposures.