![]({"https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51KoyIBw3uL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg":[224,346],"https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51KoyIBw3uL._SX321_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg":[323,499]})
Another underwhelming entry from Edge and John Brockman (editor). These books are much less stimulating than they should be, and the included thinkers' perspective of reality shows science at its worst: narrow and arrogant, with a mechanistic disregard for life. Nearly everyone in the book has blind faith in science as a panacea to the world's ills. Frequently I felt as if I were reading a middle ages book praising the glory of God; here, the word "God" has been replaced with "Science," but the uncritical praise is the same.
Here are just a few examples of the pervasive scientific hubris and shocking disrespect for life:
* "At the beginning of the twenty-first century, chemists are in complete command of matter" (194)
* "One engaging possibility is that bacteria can be genetically engineered to excrete whole cogwheels, pistons, and springs" (198)
* "Humans are machines" (184-185)
* "We can be confident that all such discoveries will fall within our current canon of understanding" (199)
* "The world half a century from now will look different and work differently. It will be much richer. It will have far snazzier technology. It might even be ever so slightly happier." (241)
While these scientists feel "in complete command," moving toward a "snazzier, slightly happier future," they largely ignore the fact that the world is careening toward social, political, economic, and environmental disaster--and that all of these problems, which these scientists are blind to, are largely rooted in the mechanistic, patriarchal, modern scientific worldview which has sucked Spirit from the world.
It is interesting to consider the book as whole. The patterns that repeat throughout seem most likely to yield the surest and most spectacular advances: genetics, neuroscience, and computer science (the Bio, Info, and Cognitive segments of the familiar NBIC acronym--nano is hardly touched on here).
But in general, Edge scientists need a wake up call: technology cannot be the solution to all our ills. The solution is much bigger than that, and it would be nice if these scientists could at least address the future of science in the context of the world beyond their provincial specialties.
- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Vintage; 1st edition (May 14, 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0375713425
- ISBN-13: 978-0375713422
- Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.7 x 8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
- Average Customer Review: 22 customer reviews
-
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#1,421,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7376 in History & Philosophy of Science
- #643 in Science Essays & Commentary (Books)
- #8205 in Evolution (Books)
Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?
