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Loading... This Idea Must Die: Scientific Theories That Are Blocking Progress (Edge Question Series) (edition 2015)by John Brockman (Author)
Work InformationThis Idea Must Die: Scientific Theories That Are Blocking Progress (Edge Question Series) by John Brockman (Editor)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. An anthology of very short essays by various hands about terminology or processes that to the authors are hindering the further progress of the Sciences, Mathematics and some of the Social sciences. With so many writers, the work is very variable in quality, both in style and in thought. Overall, not to be read consistently but to be dipped into as a measure of anti-pompous works in a chosen field. The question asked is, "What scientific idea is ready for retirement?" This collection of short essays provides answers from "175 of the world's most influential scientists, economists, artists, and philosophers" (according to the blurb on the back cover). I found it to be a mixed bag, as you might expect. A few were insightful. Several were interesting. Others were informative, obvious, uninspired, flawed, straw-man attacks, semantic rants, or (in one case) loony. Most, however (even the loony one) were, in some way, thought provoking. (Although, to be honest, my first thought after reading the loony one was 'What fairy tale universe is this guy calling in from?') These, of course, are my personal, subjective impressions. Your opinions may vary. Regardless, the collection does provide insights into what some of the top experts in fields ranging from physics to psychology are thinking about, including issues on which they agree and disagree. (I imagine there are some lively...discussions between physicists during breaks at conferences about String Theory). no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Series
The bestselling editor of This Explains Everything brings together 175 of the world's most brilliant minds to tackle Edge.org's 2014 question: What scientific idea has become a relic blocking human progress? Each year, John Brockman, publisher of Edge.org--"The world's smartest website" (The Guardian)--challenges some of the world's greatest scientists, artists, and philosophers to answer a provocative question crucial to our time. In 2014 he asked 175 brilliant minds to ponder: What scientific idea needs to be put aside in order to make room for new ideas to advance? The answers are as surprising as they are illuminating. No library descriptions found. |
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This book is a collection of essays with a common theme; "What Ideas should be shelved to aid progress?" With some of them it's almost like the author just needed a topic to write on so they could get published. Now a lot of them are educated people, I assume, since they list their credentials ahead of all of the essays, but I don't really think they understand what they are saying. Perhaps I am the one in the wrong.
As an example to illustrate my point, some people in the statistics section of the book want to do away with the average, the statistical deviation, and other things. Of course, this is all to stir up controversy since they say that they don't want to get rid of the idea per se, but rather some elements of the subject that aren't pertinent to their own fields. Sometimes they write only one page on the subject that they have and that is that. They say something terrible for about three paragraphs and they change over to another author. It's like each essay was left slightly unfinished.
Finally, they have a few cases where the subject is repeated. I am glad that two neuroscientists agree that the idea of Left Brain/ Right Brain should be retired, but do we need to hear from both of them?
The editor did his best, but this just wasn't an enjoyable collection. It certainly did stir up some controversy in my brain, just not the type that was intended. ( )