HOW IS THE INTERNET CHANGING THE WAY YOU THINK? |
WHAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING? |
EL MUNDO
January 3, 2009
Impíos deseos al empezar el año
By Arcadia Espada
Al rito solar del Año Nuevo, el concierto de Viena (me paso las dos horas de valses, fantaseando con el frío de fuera, y la choucroute caliente y morosa que le espera al primer concertino: todo lo que me gusta me da hambre) y los saltos en Garmisch Partenkirchen se ha unido ya la pregunta de Edge. Al despuntar el alba, y con todas las ilusiones intactas, Brockman&Guests sacuden la resaca, preguntan y se responden. Lo hacen desde 1998 y este año proponen: BEl subtítulo lleva una consoladora precisión: se trata de cambios y desarrollos científicos que podamos ver en vida. El resumen de las ideas de Edge, la navajita más afilada de la cultura contemporánea, siempre es complicado. Excepto, claro está, en el caso de los dos o tres artistas que figuran cada año a modo de sansivieras: todas sus respuestas se pueden ignorar. Deberás fiarte, pues, de mi gusto y de mis obsesiones. También de las limitaciones del formato de la carta. Y, principalmente, de mis límites: no entiendo todas las respuestas. En todo caso, aquí tienes el catálogo completo....
SPANISH TEXT
GOOGLE TRANSLATION |
DER SPIEGEL ONLINE
January 10, 2009
HEUTE IN DEN FEUILLETONS
Das Versagen der Linken im Gaza-Krieg
In der "SZ" erinnert sich Sibylle Lewitscharoff an ihre Zeit bei der Gruppe Spartacus Bolschewiki-Leninisten. Die "NZZ" hat in Detroit in die vielen Gesichter des Nichts gesehen. Und die "FAZ" erkennt in der chinesischen Markenpiraterie die Intelligenz des Volkes.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 10.01.2009...Weiteres: Wie es aussieht, "wenn die Intelligenz von sich selber träumt", weiß Thomas Thiel seit der Umfrage des Magazins edge.org unter hochdekorierten Naturwissenschaftlern zu der Frage: "Welche Entwicklung könnte könnte zu Ihren Lebzeiten alles ändern?" |
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG
January 10, 2009
Visionen der Wissenschaft
Wenn die Intelligenz von sich selber träumt
Von Thomas Thiel
Man steigt, heißt es, nicht zweimal in denselben Fluss. Aber man hofft doch, als derselbe ans Ufer zurückzukehren. Nur im Horizont dieses Bildes zeigt sich die Radikalität der Frage, die der Literaturagent John Brockman von der Organisation "Edge" (Edge — die Website) der wissenschaftlichen Gemeinschaft vorgelegt hat: „Welche Entwicklung könnte zu Ihren Lebzeiten alles ändern?" Wie zu jedem Jahreswechsel fordert Brockman mit seiner Frage auf der Website von Edge die Phantasie der Wissenschaftler heraus, den Mut zum großen Gedanken. Es antworten oft hochdekorierte Forscher wie Ian Wilmut, Craig Venter oder Daniel Dennett, die in (Natur-)Wissenschaftlern und Technikern und nicht mehr im Literaten oder Historikern den zeitgemäßen Typus des Intellektuellen sehen.
Fasst man den Grundtenor der mehr als einhundertfünfzig Antworten zusammen, so gehört die Zukunft den Genetikern, Neurobiologen und Informatikern oder jedenfalls solchen Wesen, die sich die Ergebnisse neurobiologischer, informationstechnologischer und genetischer Forschung zunutze machen. Ob sie noch sinnvollerweise Menschen genannt werden sollten, ist dabei eine berechtigte Frage. ...
GOOGLE TRANSLATION |
Letras Libres
December 16, 2008
Science in the Street
By Ramón González & Férriz Y Diego Salazar
Humanism today limps as Andalusia ostensibly despises science. Gonzalez and Salazar Férriz indicate a new and commendable effort to remedy that Soanish ignorance: Culture 3.0.
In the preface to the recent reissue of The betrayal of the intellectuals, 1927 Julien Benda (Galaxia Gutenberg), Fernando Savater stated that "perhaps the greatest paradox of the paradoxes of the twentieth century is this: there has never been a time in human history in which more developed the ability to produce tools and knowledge the inner structure of reality in all fields. So, never was more scientific and technical brilliance. But neither had ever so many ideological movements based (or better, desfondados) as irrational, dogmatic or unverifiable, above all, never was such a wealth of supporters of rapture or intuitive certainty blood among the elite of servers for high spiritual functions. "In the words of Benda," men whose function is to defend and selfless eternal values such as justice and reason, and I call intellectuals have betrayed that role for practical interests, which often result in the conversion of a mere intellectual ideologue who aspires to a space power...
...Following the wake of Snow and probably trying to repair the betrayal of Benda-speaking, John Brockman in 1988 founded the Edge Foundation (www.edge.org), an organization that seeks to reintegrate, under the idea of a "Third Culture "scientific and humanistic discourse and contribute to that science has a key role in the discussion of public affairs. ...
SPANISH ORIGINAL
GOOGLE TRANSLATION |
NEWS-OBSERVER
January 4, 2009
Science visions, dark and bright
By J. Peder Zane
Talk about change was more plentiful in 2008 than loose coins in an old couch.
Despite all the lip-flapping, that place where gods and devils dwell -- the details -- was largely unexplored.
The Obama administration will soon offer its ideas for reviving the economy and reshaping America's foreign policy. But politicians aren't the only ones who can remake the world.
Scientists have at least as much power to transform our lives and history. What "game-changing scientific ideas and developments" do they expect to occur during the next few decades?
That's the question John Brockman, editor of the Web site edge.org, posed to about 160 cutting-edge minds in his 11th annual Edge Question. As in years past, they responded with bold, often thrilling, sometimes chilling, answers. |
THE GUARDIAN
January 2, 2009
SCIENCE BLOG
Richard Dawkins: How would you feel about a half-human half-chimp hybrid?
Dawkins speculates about how a human-chimp hybrid or the discovery of a living Homo erectus would change the way we see the world. — James Randerson
In a late response to Edge.org's annual New Year challenge to the world's leading thinkers, Prof Richard Dawkins has submitted his entry. Edge.org asked scientists, philosophers, artists and journalists "What will change everything?"
Dawkins — author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion — muses on the effect of breaking down the barrier between humans and animals, perhaps by the creation of a chimera in a lab or a "successful hybridisation between a human and a chimpanzee".
Here's what he had to say. |
THE TELEGRAPH
January 2, 2009
New Year 2009: Leading thinkers offer predictions of 'next big thing'
By Jon Swaine
Leading thinkers — including Craig Venter and Ian McEwan — have marked New Year 2009 by predicting what will be the next big thing to shape the future.
 [PHOTO: IAN MCKEWAN/PHILIP HOLLIS]
[Caption: Ian McEwan: predicts the full flourishing of solar technology as one of the next 'big things']
A 150-strong group of scientists, authors, musicians, philosophers and other respected experts were posed the question "What will change everything?"
Their task was set by Edge, an online intellectual discussion group, which claims its membership comprises "the most interesting minds in the world".
The responses spanned new methods of energy production, the dawn of telepathy, freely available artificial intelligence and the colonisation of the Milky Way."
|
NPR
January 2, 2009
THE BIG STORY
Weekend reading
ANALYSIS
The Big Question Of The Year
By Linton Weeks
Every year, John Brockman — who runs the nonprofit Edge Foundation in New York — asks a gaggle of forward-thinking people a provocative question. |
THE GUARDIAN
January 2, 2009
SCIENCE BLOG
Brian Eno: The feeling that things are inevitably going to get worse
The artist and composer responds to this year's Edge.org question: What will change everything?
 [PHOTO: BRIAN ENO/EAMONN MCCABE]
What would change everything is not even a thought. It's more of a feeling.
Human development thus far has been fueled and guided by the feeling that things could be, and are probably going to be, better. The world was rich compared to its human population; there were new lands to conquer, new thoughts to nurture, and new resources to fuel it all. The great migrations of human history grew from the feeling that there was a better place, and the institutions of civilisation grew out of the feeling that checks on pure individual selfishness would produce a better world for everyone involved in the long term. |
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
January 2, 2009
OPINION PAGE
THE BIG STORY
Weekend reading
Edge World Question 2009: What will change everything?
Annual science survey asks: "What game-changing scientific ideas and developments do you expect to live to see?" Among the answers:
• West Antarctica and sleeping giants
• Quantum laptops
• Mind-reading ... |
GLASCOW HERALD
January 2, 2009
Top thinkers divided on whether future is bright
Chris Watt
The predictions range from miracle cures and world peace to economic ruin and nuclear war. If there is a theme to the World Questions 2009, an online survey of some of the world's top thinkers, it would seem to be inconsistency.
Published yesterday on intellectual Website edge.org, the survey asked 150 leading scientists, artists and commentators for their views on the single biggest change likely to affect the world during their lifetimes.
The wide range of answers they gave provides a snapshot of the hopes — and fears — that may come to define our times. |
BLOGGINGHEADS TV
January 3, 2009
JOHN HORGAN/
GEORGE JOHNSON
Science Saturday: The More Things Change... (27:45)
• Edge contributors answer "What will change everything?"
GJ: We were talking abut great thiigs on the Internet in science...so you read Edge.org' question of the year?
JH: Yes, the annual question from John Brockman, the science book impressario. He's got this great site edge.org 2hich we've talked about before and every year he asks this question and he's asks this ever-growing stable of people, primarily scientists but a of of quasi-scientist pundits to respond this question. The question this year is "What will change everything".
GJ: Yes, Good New Year's Day reading. |
PHARYNGULA
January 2, 2009
PZ MYERS
Brockman asks, we answer |
GRIST
January 2, 2009
We're gonna need a bigger boat
Scientists and other experts rattle off options for averting climate catastrophe
Meanwhile, the mysterious Edge Foundation released its annual question for 2009, asking smart folks of all disciplines to name what new idea or technology will "change everything." Responses range all over, but there are a few climate-related responses, including British novelist Ian McEwan's prediction that solar technology will really take off and Stanford climatologist Stephen H. Schneider's guess that rapid melting of Greenland's ice sheets will wake up the world to the need to take concerted action on curbing C02 emissions.
|
BELIEFNET
January 2, 2009
CRUNCH CON BLOG/
RON DREHER
Edge 2009: What will change everything?
If you're familiar with The Edge's annual survey of scientists, science writers and scientific types, you know how fascinating the answers are. Follow the link above to get started reading them -- and then share in the comboxes your own answer to the question, and how you reached that conclusioN |
O'REILLY RADAR
January 1, 2009
What Will Change Everything?
By Brady Forrest
Regular Radar contributor Linda Stone sent this in to be posted today.
...Venter imagines creating life from synthetic materials and expects that our view of life, itself, will be transformed.
Nobel Laureate, Frank Wilczek, believes everything will continue to become smaller, faster, cooler, and cheaper -- with its implications of an Internet on steroids and exciting new designer materials. |
ARTS & LETTER DAILY
January 1, 2009
Essays and Opinion
Printing — electricity — radio — antibiotics: after them, nothing was the same. Intellectual impresario John Brockman asks a select group of thinkers, "What will change everything?"... more» |
THE GUARDIAN
January 1, 2009
Leading thinkers predict technologies that will turn the world upside-down
James Randerson, science correspondent
[Caption: Ian McEwan muses that we will look back and 'wonder why we ever thought we had a problem when we are bathed in such beneficent radiant energy'. Photograph: Getty]
Flying cars, personal jetpacks, holidays on the moon, the paperless office — the predictions of futurologists are, it seems, doomed to fail. The only thing predictable about the future is its unpredictability.
But that has not stopped edge.org — the online intellectual salon — asking which ideas and inventions will provide humanity's next leap forward. In its traditional New Year challenge to the planet's best thinkers it asks, "What will change everything — What game-changing scientific ideas and developments do you expect to live to see?" |
THE TIMES
January 1, 2009
Science minds reveal vision of life, the universe and everything
Mark Henderson, Senior Editor
Most scientists like to dream about what will change the world — even if they understand that their own work is never likely to have quite the impact of a Copernicus or a Darwin.
The fascinating breadth of their visions of the future is revealed today by the discussion Website edge.com, which has asked some of the world's finest minds the question: "What will change everything?" |
Xconomy
January 1, 2009
What Will Change Everything?
Linda Stone
What game-changing ideas can we expect to see in OUR lifetimes?
As each year winds to a close, John Brockman, literary agent representing some of the finest minds in science and technology and the founder of Edge Foundation, poses a provocative question to an international community of physicists, psychologists, futurists, thought leaders, and dreamers. Brockman is a master convener, both online and in real life. This year's annual Edge question, What will change everything?, generated responses from Freeman Dyson, Danny Hillis, Martin Seligman, Craig Venter, and Juan Enriquez, to name a few. Here are a few highlights. |
NEWSWEEK
December 31, 2008
LAB NOTES
Crystal-Ball Time
By Sharon Begley
Every December the online intellectual salon called Edge, presided over by literary agent John Brockman, asks a select (virtual) assembly of scientists to ponder a question, such as what they are optimistic about (2007), what "dangerous" ideas they have (2006) and what they believe is true but cannot prove (2005). As the bell tolls on 2008 and rings in 2009, Edge is unveiling this year's: "What game-changing scientific ideas and developments do you expect to live to see?"
As usual, the offerings vary as much in quality as a cheap spumante does from Dom Perignon. Predictably, contributors foresee space colonization and the discovery of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. More intriguing, there are predictions that a new human species will evolve from Homo sapiens, and that we will discover how to identify the brain pattern that indicates a person is about to commit a violent act (and will also discover how to suppress that pattern). |
THE GUARDIAN
January 1, 2009
SCIENCE BLOG
Which technological wonders are set to change everything?
The world's greatest thinkers have revealed the ideas and technologies they think will change the world forever. Now it's our turn ...
James Randerson, science correspondent
Futurology is notoriously hit-and-miss. According to 2001: A Space Odyssey, we should already be using suspended animation to send humans to Jupiter
"Through science we create technology and in using our new tools we recreate ourselves." So says the intro to edge.org's annual New Year challenge to the world's greatest thinkers.This year it is asking "What will change everything — What game-changing scientific ideas and developments do you expect to live to see?" And as ever, the great and the good have responded to the call. ... |
WHAT HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND ABOUT? |
 |
The splendidly enlightened Edge Website (www.edge.org) has rounded off each year of inter-disciplinary debate by asking its heavy-hitting contributors to answer one question. I songly recommend a visit.
|
A great event in the Anglo-Saxon culture |
As fascinating and weighty as one would imagine |
They are the intellectual elite, the brains the rest of us rely on to make sense of the universe and answer the big questions. But in a refreshing show of new year humility, the world's best thinkers have admitted that from time to time even they are forced to change their minds |
Even the world's best brains have to admit to being wrong sometimes: here, leading scientists respond to a new year challenge |
Provocative ideas put forward today by leading figures |
The world's finest minds have responded with some of the most insightful, humbling, fascinating confessions and anecdotes, an intellectual treasure trove. ... Best three or four hours of intense, enlightening reading you can do for the new year. Read it now. |
As in the past, these world-class thinkers have responded to impossibly open-ended questions with erudition, imagination and clarity. |
A jolt of fresh thinking...The answers address a fabulous array of issues. This is the intellectual equivalent of a New Year's dip in the lake — bracing, possibly shriek-inducing, and bound to wake you up |
Answers ring like scientific odes to uncertainty, humility and doubt; passionate pleas for critical thought in a world threatened by blind convictions
|
For an exceptionally high quotient of interesting ideas to words, this is hard to beat. ...What a feast of egg-head opinionating!. |
What
Are you Optimistic About?
Edited
by John Brockman
Introduction by Daniel C. Dennett
|
Was
läuft hier richtig?
Der neue Optimismus
der Wissenschaften kommt gerade zur rechten Zeit
RALF
BÖNT |
C'est la double question posée par John Brockman, éditeur
de Edge à plus de 160 "penseurs de la troisième
culture, ces savants et autres penseurs du monde empirique
qui, par leur travail ou leurs écrits prennent la
place des intellectuels traditionnels en rendant visibles
les sens profonds de nos vies, en redéfinissant autant
qui nous sommes que ce que nous sommes".
Ça change des unes constamment catastrophiques
de nos médias habituels. |
But when the scientific thinkers look beyond their own specializations
to the big picture, they continue to find cause for cheer — foreseeing
an end to war, for example, or the simultaneous solution
of our global warming and energy problems. The most general
grounds for optimism offered by these thinkers, though,
is that big-picture pessimism so often proves to be unfounded. |
| Global
warming, the war on terror and rampant consumerism getting
you down? Well, lighten up: here, 17 of the world's smartest
scientists and academics share their reasons to be cheerful |
Brockman's respondents were forward-looking, describing
cutting-edge research that will help combat global warming
and other looming problems. |
How Doomed Are We?
Edgie's Chris
Anderson of TED and Robert
Provine of University of Maryland as
the proponents of optimism on program concerning
Optimism and the Doomsday Clock |
a titillating
compilation |
Peering into their crystal telescopes, the world's leading
scientists see a magnificent future |
El foro virtual Edge propone buscar razones, no simplemente
deseos, para el optimismo. Edge es un club que reúne,
segén ellos mismos, algunas de las mentes más
interesantes del mundo. Su propósito es estimular
discusiones en las fronteras del conocimiento. La intención
es llegar al borde del conocimiento mundial, acercándose
a las mentes más complejas y refinadas, juntarlas
en un foro y hacerlos que se pregunten las preguntas
que ellos mismos se hacen. La fundación actúa,
de este modo, como surtidora de problemas y alojamiento
de réplicas. Cada ano se constituye como Centro
Mundial de Preguntas. |
God bless those upbeat scientists |
Looking
through rose-colored microscopes
Why some scientists are optimistic
about the future
|
One way or another the answers should give you a warm
glow — either because you agree, or because they
make you angry. |
Edge's future-themed article is making some news....
From the lips of contributors to the online magazine
Edge to God's ears (one wonders if She or It may be listening):
dozens of scientists and other thinkers have looked ahead
to the future.
|
a Web site that aims to bridge the gap between scientists
and other thinkers |
[E]ven in the face of such threats as global warming and
religious fundamentalism, scientists remain positive about
the future. |
People's fascination for religion and superstition will
disappear within a few decades as television and the Internet
make it easier to get information, and scientists get closer
to discovering a final theory of everything, leading thinkers
argue today. |
What are you optimistic about? Why? Tons of brilliant thinkers
respond. |
What
Are You Optimistic About?
Posted by Hemos on Monday January 01, @08:43AM
from the explain-yourself dept. |
Intellectual impresario John Brockman puts his annual
Edge question to
leading thinkers. |
What are you optimistic about? Intellectual
impresario John Brockman puts his annual Edge question
to leading thinkers...
|
[A]ccording to Edge — the heady Website for world-class
scientists and thinkers, and the brainchild of author and
entrepreneurial idea man, John Brockman, there's good news
ahead. |
What
Is Your Dangerous Idea
Edited
by John Brockman
Introduction by Steven Pinker
Afterword by Richard Dawkins
|
KYUNG HANG (Soeul)
The
great
world-wide
scholars
talk
about
their
'dangerous
ideas'.
|
Most of the contributors appear to have
interpreted "dangerous" as
meaning something like "subversive," challenging
to one or another received orthodoxy. |
Meine
gefährlichste Idee. Seit nunmehr
neun Jahren startet die Stiftung Edge
mit einer Umfrage zu einem großen
generellen Thema ins neue Jahr. |
Crónicas
Bárbaras Ciencia racista, atractiva
pero muy peligrosa. |
(Sydney)
Into the minds of the believers. With
the aim of gathering ideas from the
world's leading thinkers on intellectual,
philosophical, artistic and literary
issues, US writer John Brockman established
The Edge Foundation in 1988. |
Royal
Society president Martin Rees said the
most dangerous idea was public concern
that science and technology were running
out of control. |
Audacious
Knowledge. What is a dangerous idea?
One not assumed to be false, but possibly
true?What do you believe is true even
though you cannot prove it?" |
Seductive
power of a hazardous idea. The responses
to Brockman's question do not directly
engage with each other, but they do worry
away at a core set of themes. |
Academics
see gene cloning perils, untamed global
warming and personality-changing drugs
as presenting the gravest dangers for
the future of civiliztion |
Risky
ideas; What do scientists currently regard
as the most dangerous thoughts? |
Be
Afraid. Edge.org canvassed scientists for
their "most dangerous idea." David
Buss, a psychologist at the University
of Texas, chose "The Evolution of
Evil." |
The
most dangerous idea. Brockman's challenge
is noteworthy because his buddies include
many of the world's greatest scientists:
Freeman Dyson, David Gelertner, J. Craig
Venter, Jared Diamond, Brian Greene. |
Dangerous
Ideas About Modern Life. Free will does
not exist. We are not always created
equal. Science will never be able to
address our deepest concerns. |
Genome
sequencing pioneer Craig Venter suggests
greater understanding of how genes influence
characteristics such as personality,
intelligence and athletic capability
could lead to conflict in society. |
The
wilder shores of creativity. He asked
his roster of thinkers [...] to nominate
an idea, not necessarily their own, they
consider dangerous not because it is
false, but because it might be true. |
From cloning to predetermination of sex:
the answers of investigators and philosophers
to a question on the online salon Edge. |
Who
controls humans? God? The genes? Or nevertheless
the computer? The on-line forum Edge
asked its yearly question — and
the answers raised more questions. |
La
pregunta de l'any. La Web Edge.org penjarà l'1
de gener la pregunta de l'any. La del
2005 va ser resposta per 120 ments de
l'anomenada 'tercera cultura', que van
reflexionar sobre l'enunciat "Què creus
que és veritat tot i no poder-ho
demostrar?" |
THE HANKYOREH (Seoul)
 |
The
117 respondents include Richard Dawkins,
Freeman Dyson, Daniel Dennett, Jared
Diamond — and that's just the
D's! As you might expect, the submissions
are brilliant and very controversial. |
Gene
discoveries highlight dangers facing
society. Mankind's increasing understanding
of the way genes influence behaviour
and the issue's potential to cause ethical
and moral dilemmas is one of the biggest
dangers facing society, according to
leading scientists. |
Why
it can be a very smart move to start
life with a Jewish momma: There is one
dangerous idea that still trumps them
all: the notion that, as Steven Pinker
describes it, "groups of people
may differ genetically in their average
talents and temperaments". For "groups
of people", read "races." |
The
Earth can cope with global warming, schools
should be banned and we should learn
to love bacteria. These are among the
dangerous ideas revealed by a poll of
leading thinkers. |
Science
can be a risky game, as Galileo learned
to his cost. Now John Brockman asks over
a hundred thinkers, "What is your
most dangerous idea?" |
"Our
brains are constantly subjected to the
demands of multi-tasking and a seemingly
endless cacophony of information from
diverse sources. " |
Very
complex systems — whether organisms,
brains, the biosphere, or the universe
itself — were not constructed by
design; all have evolved. There is a
new set of metaphors to describe ourselves,
our minds, the universe, and all of the
things we know in it. |
John
Brockman Blogs Edge's Annual
Question on Huff Po |
What We
Believe but Cannot Prove: Today's
Leading Thinkers on Science in the Age of Certainty
Edited
by John
Brockman
Introduction
by
Ian
McEwan
|
 |
| The
natural gift of consciousness should be treasured
all the more for its transience. |
 |
The
answers...exert an un- questionable morbid
fascination — those are the very ideas
that scientists cannot confess in their technical
papers. |
 |
"Fate
largo alle «beautiful minds» di
Roberto Casati;;
"La
terza cultura di John Brockman" di
Armando Massarenti |
|
God
(or Not), Physics and, of Course, Love: Scientists
Take a Leap: Fourteen scientists ponder everything
from string theory to true love. |
 |
| Space
Without Time, Time Without Rest: John Brockman's
Question for the Republic of Wisdom — It
can be more thrilling to start the New Year
with a good question than with a good intention.
That's what John Brockman is doing for the
eight time in a row. |
|
| What
do you believe to be true, even though you
can't prove it? John Brockman asked over a
hundred scientists and intellectuals... more» ...
Edge |
|
That's
what online magazine The Edge — the
World Question Center asked over 120 scientists,
futurists, and other interesting minds. Their
answers are sometimes short and to the point |
|
| Science's
Scourge of Believers Declares His Faith
in Darwin... |
 |
| Singolare
inchiesta in usa di un sito Internet. Ha chiesto
ai signori della ricerca di svelare i loro "atti
di fede". Sono arrivate le risposte piu'
imprevedibili i fantasmi dello scienziato:
non ho prove ma ci credo. |
 |
| To
celebrate the new year, online magazine Edge asked
some leading thinkers a simple question:
What do you believe but cannot prove? Here
is a selection of their responses... |
 |
| Scientists
dream too — imagine that |
 |
| "Fantastically
stimulating ...Once
you start, you can't stop thinking about that
question. It's like the crack cocaine of the
thinking world." — BBC Radio 4 |
|
| Scientists,
increasingly, have become our public intellectuals,
to whom we look for explanations and solutions.
These may be partial and imperfect, but they
are more satisfactory than the alternatives. |
 |
Bangladesh — The
cynic and the optimist, the agnostic and
the believer, the rationalist and the obscurantist,
the scientist and the speculative philosopher,
the realist and the idealist-all converge
on a critical point in their thought process
where reasoning loses its power. |
|
Il
Sole 24 Ore-Domenica Segnalate le vostre
cuioosita, chiederemo riposta alle persone
piu autorevoli |
|
| "So
now, into the breach comes John Brockman, the literary
agent and gadfly, whose online scientific salon,
Edge.org, has become one of the most interesting
stopping places on the Web. He begins every year
by posing a question to his distinguished roster
of authors and invited guests. Last year he asked
what sort of counsel each would offer George W.
Bush as the nation's top science adviser. This
time the question is "What's your law?" |
|
| "John
Brockman, a New York literary agent, writer and
impresario of the online salon Edge, figures it
is time for more scientists to get in on the whole
naming thing...As a New Year's exercise, he asked
scores of leading thinkers in the natural and social
sciences for "some bit of wisdom, some rule
of nature, some law-like pattern, either grand
or small, that you've noticed in the universe that
might as well be named after you." |
|
| "John
Brockman has posted an intriguing question on his
Edge Website. Brockman advises his would-be legislators
to stick to the scientific disciplines." |
 |
| "Everything
answers to the rule of law. Nature. Science. Society.
All of it obeys a set of codes...It's the thinker's
challenge to put words to these unwritten rules.
Do so, and he or she may go down in history. Like
a Newton or, more recently, a Gordon Moore, who
in 1905 coined the most cited theory of the technological
age, an observation on how computers grow exponentially
cheaper and more powerful... Recently, John Brockman
went looking for more laws." |
|
 |
| "In
2002, he [Brockman] asked respondents to imagine
that they had been nominated as White House science
adviser and that President Bush had sought their
answer to 'What are the pressing scientific issues
for the nation and the world, and what is your
advice on how I can begin to deal with them?'Here
are excerpts of some of the responses. " |
|
| "Edge's
combination of political
engagement and blue-sky thinking
makes stimulating reading
for anyone seeking a glimpse
into the next decade." |
|
"Dear
W: Scientists Offer
President Advice on Policy" |
 |
| "There
are
84
responses,
ranging
in
topic
from
advanced
nanotechnology
to
the
psychology
of
foreign
cultures,
and
lots
of
ideas
regarding
science,
technology,
politics,
and
education." |
|
| "Brockman's
thinkers of the 'Third Culture,'
whether they, like Dawkins,
study evolutionary biology
at Oxford or, like Alan Alda,
portray scientists on Broadway,
know no taboos. Everything
is permitted, and nothing
is excluded from this intellectual
game." |
 |
| "The
responses are generally
written in an engaging,
casual style (perhaps encouraged
by the medium of e-mail),
and are often fascinating
and thought — provoking....
These are all wonderful,
intelligent questions..." |
 |
| "We
are interested in 'thinking smart,'" declares
Brockman on the site, "we are not interested
in the anesthesiology of 'wisdom.'" |
|
| "INSPIRED
ARENA: Edge has been bringing together the world's
foremost scientific thinkers since 1998, and
the response to September 11 was measured and
uplifting." |
|
| "Responses
to this year's question are deliciously creative...
the variety astonishes. Edge continues
to launch intellectual skyrockets of stunning
brilliance. Nobody in the world is doing what Edge is
doing." |
|
| "Once
a year, John Brockman of New York, a writer
and literary agent who represents many scientists,
poses a question in his online journal, The
Edge, and invites the thousand or so people
on his mailing list to answer it." |
 |
| "Don't
assume for a second that Ted Koppel, Charlie
Rose and the editorial high command at the New
York Times have a handle on all the pressing
issues of the day.... a lengthy list of profound,
esoteric and outright entertaining responses. |
The
Greatest Inventions of the Past 2,000 Years
Edited
by John
Brockman
|
 |
| "A terrific, thought provoking site." |
 |
| "The
Power of Big Ideas" |
|
| "The
Nominees for Best Invention Of the Last Two Millennia
Are . . ." |
 |
| "...Thoughtful and often surprising answers
....a fascinating survey of intellectual and
creative wonders of the world ..... Reading
them reminds me of how wondrous our world is." — Bill Gates, New York Times Syndicated
Column |
 |
| "A
site that has raised electronic discourse on the
Web to a whole new level.... Genuine learning seems
to be going on here." |
 |
| "To
mark the first anniversary of [Edge],
Brockman posed a question: 'Simply reading the
six million volumes in the Widener Library does
not necessarily lead to a complex and subtle
mind," he wrote, referring to the Harvard
library. "How to avoid the anesthesiology
of wisdom?' " |
|
| "Home
to often lively, sometimes obscure and almost
always ambitious discussions." |
|
"Open-minded,
free-ranging, intellectually playful
...an unadorned pleasure in curiosity,
a collective expression of wonder
at the living and inanimate world
... an ongoing and thrilling colloquium." — Ian
McEwan, Author of Saturday |
 |
"Astounding
reading." |
|
"An
unprecedented roster of brilliant minds,
the sum of which is nothing short of
visionary |
 |
"Fantastically
stimulating...It's like the crack cocaine
of the thinking world.... Once you
start, you can't stop thinking about
that question." |
 |
"Wonderful
reading." |
|
"One of the most interesting
stopping places on the Web" |
 |
"Brilliant! Stimulating reading." |
|
"Today's visions of science
tomorrow." |
 |
"Fascinating and thought-provoking
...wonderful, intelligent." |
|
"Edge.org...a Web site devoted
to dis- cussions of cutting edge science." |
 |
"Awesome indie newsletter with
brilliant contribu-tors." |
 |
"Everything is permitted, and
nothing is excluded from this intellectual
game." |
|
"Websites of the year...Inspired
Arena...the world's foremost scientific
thinkers." |
 |
"High concept all the way...the
brightest scientists and thinkers ...
heady ... deep and refreshing." |
 |
" Deliciously crea-tive...the variety
astonishes...intel-lectual skyrockets of
stunning brill-iance. Nobody in the
world is doing what Edge is
doing." |
|
"A marvellous showcase for
the Internet, it comes very highly
recom-mended." |
 |
"Profound, esoteric and outright
enter-taining." |
 |
"A terrific, thought provoking
site." |
 |
"...Thoughtful and often surprising
...reminds me of how wondrous our world
is." — Bill Gates |
 |
"One of the Net's most prestigious,
invitation-only free trade zones for
the exchange of potent ideas." |
 |
"An enjoyable read." |
|
"A-list: Dorothy Parker's Vicious
Circle without the food and alcohol
... a brilliant format." |
|
"Big, deep and ambitous questions...
breathtaking in scope." |
 |
"Has raised electronic discourse
on the Web to a whole new level." |
 |
"Lively, sometimes obscure
and almost always ambitious." |
|
| 172 Contributors |
132,00 words |
|
STEWART BRAND
Founder, Whole Earth Catalog, cofounder; The Well; cofounder, Global Business Network; Author, Whole Earth Discipline
ONE'S GUILD |
CLAY SHIRKY
Social & Technology Network Topology Researcher; Adjunct Professor, NYU Graduate School of Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP); Author, Here Comes Everybody
THE SHOCK OF INCLUSION |
RICHARD DAWKINS
Evolutionary Biologist; Emeritus Professor of the Public Understanding of Science, Oxford; Author, The Greatest Show on Earth
NET GAIN |
DAVE MORIN
Senior Platform Manager; Facebook; Internet Entrepreneur; Co-Inventor, Facebook Platform and Facebook Connect
CONTEXT IS KING |
MARTIN REES
President, The Royal Society; Professor of Cosmology & Astrophysics; Master, Trinity College, University of Cambridge; Author, Our Final Century: The 50/50 Threat to Humanity's Survival
A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD |
ESTHER DYSON
Catalyst, Information Technology Startups, EDventure Holdings; Former Chariman,Electronic Frontier Foundation and ICANN; Author: Release 2.1
INFORMATION METABOLISM |
GERD GIGERENZER
Psychologist; Director of the Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin; Author, Gut Feelings
OUTSOURCING THE MIND |
ALBERT-LÁSZLÓ BARABÁSI
Complex Network Scientist; Distinguished Professor and Director of Northeastern University's Center for Complex Network Research; Author, Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else
MY SIXTH SENSE |
MATT RIDLEY
Science Writer; Founding chairman of the International Centre for Life; Author, Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code.
THE COLLECTIVE BRAIN |
HELEN FISHER
Research Professor, Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University; Author, Why We Love
TAKE LOVE |
EMANUEL DERMAN
Professor, Financial Engineering, Columbia University; Principal, Prisma Capital Partners; Former Head, Quantitative Strategies Group, Equities Division, Goldman Sachs & Co.; Author, My Life as a Quant
MORE EFFECIENT, BUT TO WHAT END? |
STEVEN PINKER
Johnstone Family Professor, Department of Psychology; Harvard University; Author, The Stuff of Thought
NOT AT ALL |
CHARLES SEIFE
Professor of Journalism, New York University; formerly journalist, Science magazine; Author, Sun in a Bottle: The Strange History of Fusion and the Science of Wishful Thinking
I HAVE OUTSOURCED MY MEMORY |
STANISLAS DEHAENE
Neuroscientist; Collège de France, Paris; Author, Reading in the brain
|
IAN GOLD
Neuroscientist; Canada Research Chair in Philosophy & Psychiatry, McGill University
JOEL GOLD, M.D.
Psychiatrist; Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine
TWEET ME NICE |
JUAN ENRIQUEZ
CEO, Biotechonomy; was Founding Director, Harvard Business School's Life Sciences Project; Author, The Untied States of America
IMMORTALITY |
STEFANO BOERI
Architect, teaching at Politecnico of Milan, visiting professor at Harvard GSD, editor in chief of the Abitare monthly/magazine
internet is wind |
Chicago Sun-Times
January 3, 2010
'Change' looks at possibilities of our future
By Carlo Wolff
I flunked a physics test so badly as a college freshman that the only reason I scored any points was I spelled my name right.
Such ignorance, along with studied avoidance of physics and math since college, didn’t lessen my enjoyment of This Will Change Everything, a provocative, demanding clutch of essays covering everything from gene splicing to global warming to intelligence, both artificial and human, to immortality.
Edited by John Brockman, a literary agent who founded the Edge Foundation, this is the kind of book into which one can dip at will. Approaching it in a linear fashion might be frustrating because it is so wide-ranging. ...
... Most of the writing in this dense book is serious, even academic, however, there are pieces that tickled my funny bone or my anger bone. Artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster’s suggestion of a “worldwide collective decision to genetically miniaturize future generations” so humanity doesn’t run out of resources is wonderfully fanciful; Alan Alda’s thoughts on our inability to live together eloquently despairing.
Overall, this will appeal primarily to scientists and academicians. But the way Brockman interlaces essays about research on the frontiers of science with ones on artistic vision, education, psychology and economics is sure to buzz any brain.
Stewart Brand, the father of the Whole Earth Catalog, a kind of hippie precursor of hypertext and intermedia (the last term is a Brockman coinage), calls Brockman “one of the great intellectual enzymes of our time” at www.edge.org, Brockman’s Web site. Brockman clearly is an agent provocateur of ideas. Getting the best of them to politicians who can use them to execute positive change is the next step.
[...] |
"Full of ideas wild (neurocosmetics, “resizing ourselves,” “intuit[ing] in six dimensions”) and more close-to-home (“Basketball and Science Camps,” solar technology”), this volume offers dozens of ingenious ways to think about progress"
NONFICTION (STARRED REVIEW)
 This Will Change Everything: Ideas That Will Shape the Future
Edited byJohn Brockman. Harper Perennial, $14.99 paper (416p) ISBN 9780061899676
Part of a series stemming from his online science journal Edge (www.edge.org), including What Have You Changed Your Mind About? and What Is Your Dangerous Idea?, author and editor Brockman presents 136 answers to the question, “What game-changing scientific ideas and developments do you expect to live to see?” Milan architect Stefano Boeri responds with a single sentence: “Discovering that someone from the future has already come to visit us.” Most others take the question more seriously; J. Craig Venter believes his laboratory will use “digitized genetic information” to direct organisms in creating biofuels and recycling carbon dioxide. Like biofuels, several topics are recurrent: both Robert Shapiro and Douglas Rushikoff consider discovering a “Separate Origin for Life,” a terrestrial unicellular organism that doesn’t belong to our tree of life; Leo M. Chalupa and Alison Gopnik both consider the possibility resetting the adult brain’s plasticity—its capacity for learning—to childhood levels. Futurologist Juan Enriquez believes that reengineering body parts and the brain will lead to “human speciation” unseen for hundreds of thousands of years, while controversial atheist Richard Dawkins suggests that reverse-engineering evolution could create a highly illuminating “continuum between every species and every other.” Full of ideas wild (neurocosmetics, “resizing ourselves,” “intuit[ing] in six dimensions”) and more close-to-home (“Basketball and Science Camps,” solar technology”), this volume offers dozens of ingenious ways to think about progress. (Jan.)
|
THE YEAR'S BEST BOOKS
"brilliant ... captivating ... overwhelming"
Books to read (and give) now
SEED PICKS DECEMBER 1, 2009
 The latest prophetic collection from John Brockman of Edge.org invites scores of the world's most brilliant thinkers, including Richard Dawkins, Lisa Randall, and Brian Eno, to predict what game-changing events will occur in their lifetimes. Their speculations run the existential gamut, as some predict deliberate nuclear disaster or accidental climatic apocalypse and others foresee eternal life, unlimited prosperity, and boundless happiness. Between such extremes of heaven and hell lie more ambiguous visions: An end to forgetting, the creation of intelligent machines, and cosmetic brain surgery, to name a few. Pouring over these pages is like attending a dinner party where every guest is brilliant and captivating and only wants to speak with you—overwhelming, but an experience to savor.
|
CRYSTAL BALL FOR STAR INTELLECTUALS
"a stellar cast of intellectuals ... a stunning array of responses"
HOLIDAY BOOKS: This Will Change Everything edited by John Brockman; John Brockman's annual question draws a bewildering array of responses from a stellar cast of intellectuals
by Michael Bond
LITERARY agent John Brockman assembles a stellar cast of intellectuals each year to answer a boundary-pushing question. His latest poser — "What game-changing scientific ideas and developments do you expect to live to see?" — has drawn a stunning array of responses, from nuclear terrorism to in-vitro meat.
Some ideas are predictable (immortality, intelligent robots, designer children), some world-saving if they happened (oil we can grow) and some we'd be better off without (neuro-cosmetics). Many are self-indulgent technological fantasies. With contributions from Ian McEwan, Steven Pinker, Lee Smolin, Craig Venter, Richard Dawkins and 130 others of their ilk, the book is like an intellectual lucky dip.
Perfect for: anyone who wants to know what the big thinkers will be chewing on in 2010.
|
THE EDGE ANNUAL QUESTION BOOK SERIES
Edited by John Brockman
"An intellectual treasure trove"
San
Francisco Chronicle
THIS WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING: IDEAS THAT WILL SHAPE THE FUTURE (*)
Edited by John Brockman
Harper Perennial
NOW IN BOOKSTORES AND ONLINE!
[click to enlarge]
Contributors include: RICHARD DAWKINS on cross-species breeding; IAN McEWAN on the remote frontiers of solar energy; FREEMAN DYSON on radiotelepathy; STEVEN PINKER on the perils and potential of direct-to-consumer genomics; SAM HARRIS on mind-reading technology; NASSIM NICHOLAS TALEB on the end of precise knowledge; CHRIS ANDERSON on how the Internet will revolutionize education; IRENE PEPPERBERG on unlocking the secrets of the brain; LISA RANDALL on the power of instantaneous information; BRIAN ENO on the battle between hope and fear; J. CRAIG VENTER on rewriting DNA; FRANK WILCZEK on mastering matter through quantum physics.
"a provocative, demanding clutch of essays covering everything from gene splicing to global warming to intelligence, both artificial and human, to immortality... the way Brockman interlaces essays about research on the frontiers of science with ones on artistic vision, education, psychology and economics is sure to buzz any brain." (Chicago Sun-Times)
"11 books you must read —
Curl up with these reads on days when you just don't want to do anything else: 5. John Brockman's This Will Change Everything: Ideas That Will Shape the Future" (Forbes India)
"Full of ideas wild (neurocosmetics, "resizing ourselves," "intuit[ing] in six dimensions") and more close-to-home ("Basketball and Science Camps," solar technology"), this volume offers dozens of ingenious ways to think about progress" (Publishers Weekly — Starred Review)
"A stellar cast of intellectuals ... a stunning array of responses...Perfect for: anyone who wants to know what the big thinkers will be chewing on in 2010. " (New Scientist)
"Pouring over these pages is like attending a dinner party where every guest is brilliant and captivating and only wants to speak with you—overwhelming, but an experience to savor." (Seed)
(* based On The Edge Annual Question — 2009: "What Will Change Everything?)
|
|
WHAT HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND ABOUT
Edited by John Brockman
With An Introduction By BRIAN ENO
[2008]
Contributors include: STEVEN PINKER on the future of human evolution • RICHARD DAWKINS on the mysteries of courtship • SAM HARRIS on why Mother Nature is not our friend • NASSIM NICHOLAS TALEB on the irrelevance of probability • ALUN ANDERSON on the reality of global warming • ALAN ALDA considers, reconsiders, and re-reconsiders God • LISA RANDALL on the secrets of the Sun • RAY KURZWEIL on the possibility of extraterrestrial life • BRIAN ENO on what it means to be a "revolutionary" • HELEN FISHER on love, fidelity, and the viability of marriage…and many others.
"The
splendidly enlightened Edge Website (www.edge.org) has rounded off
each year of inter-disciplinary debate by asking its heavy-hitting
contributors to answer one question. I strongly recommend a visit." The
Independent
"A
great event in the Anglo-Saxon culture." El
Mundo
"As
fascinating and weighty as one would imagine." The
Independent
"They
are the intellectual elite, the brains the rest of us rely on to
make sense of the universe and answer the big questions. But in
a refreshing show of new year humility, the world's best thinkers
have admitted that from time to time even they are forced to change
their minds." The Guardian
"Even the world's
best brains have to admit to being wrong sometimes: here, leading scientists
respond to a new year challenge." The
Times
"Provocative
ideas put forward today by leading figures."The
Telegraph
"The
world's finest minds have responded with some of the most insightful,
humbling, fascinating confessions and anecdotes, an intellectual
treasure trove. ... Best three or four hours of intense, enlightening
reading you can do for the new year. Read it now." San
Francisco Chronicle
"As
in the past, these world-class thinkers have responded to impossibly
open-ended questions with erudition, imagination and clarity." The
News & Observer
"A
jolt of fresh thinking...The answers address a fabulous array of issues.
This is the intellectual equivalent of a New Year's dip in the lake — bracing,
possibly shriek-inducing, and bound to wake you up." The
Globe and Mail
"Answers
ring like scientific odes to uncertainty, humility and doubt; passionate
pleas for critical thought in a world threatened by blind convictions." The
Toronto Star
"For
an exceptionally high quotient of interesting ideas to words, this
is hard to beat. ...What a feast of egg-head opinionating!" National
Review Online
|
|
WHAT ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC ABOUT?
Today's Leading Thinkers on Why Things Are Good and Getting Better
Edited by John Brockman
Introduction
by DANIEL C. DENNETT
[2007]
"The
optimistic visions seem not just wonderful but plausible." Wall
Street Journal
"Persuasively
upbeat." O, The Oprah Magazine
"Our
greatest minds provide nutshell insights on how science will help
forge a better world ahead." Seed
"Uplifting...an
enthralling book."The Mail on Sunday
|
|
WHAT IS YOUR DANGEROUS IDEA?
Today's Leading Thinkers on the Unthinkable
Edited
by John Brockman
Introduction
by STEVEN PINKER
Afterword
by RICHARD DAWKINS
[2006]
"Danger — brilliant
minds at work...A brilliant bok: exhilarating, hilarious, and chilling." The
Evening Standard (London)
"A selection of the most
explosive ideas of our age." Sunday
Herald
"Provocative" The
Independent
"Challenging notions put forward by
some of the world's sharpest minds" Sunday
Times
"A titillating compilation" The
Guardian
"Reads like an intriguing dinner party
conversation among great minds in science" Discover
|
|
WHAT WE BELIEVE BUT CANNOT PROVE?
Today's Leading Thinkers on Science in the Age of Certainty
Edited by John Brockman
Introduction by IAN MCEWAN
[2006]
"Whether or not we believe proof or prove belief, understanding belief itself becomes essential in a time when so many people in the world are ardent believers." LA Times
"Belief appears to motivate even the most rigorously scientific minds. It stimulates and challenges, it tricks us into holding things to be true against our better judgment, and, like scepticism -its opposite -it serves a function in science that is playful as well as thought-provoking. not we believe proof or prove belief, understanding belief itself becomes essential in a time when so many people in the world are ardent believers." The Times
"John Brockman is the PT Barnum of popular science. He has always been a great huckster of ideas." The Observer
"An
unprecedented roster of brilliant minds, the sum of which is nothing
short of an oracle — a book ro be dog-eared and debated." Seed
"Scientific
pipedreams at their very best." The
Guardian
"Makes for some astounding
reading." Boston Globe
"Fantastically
stimulating...It's like the crack cocaine of the thinking world....
Once you start, you can't stop thinking about that question." BBC
Radio 4
"Intellectual
and creative magnificence" The
Skeptical Inquirer
|
|
Harvard
Coop, December 24, 2007 |
|
|
|
Thinking in the Internet Age
