John Brockman - What Should We Be Worried About?

Greece, 107, 166, 453

Greens, 51

Grothendieck, Alexander, 267

groupism, 4, 147–49

groupthink, 266

growth, 107–16

G-type stars, 147

Guatemala, 251

hacking, 284, 408–9

Haidt, Jonathan, 278–79

Hainmueller, Jens, 359

Hales, Thomas, 387

hallucinogenic drugs, 441, 443

handprints, 211–12

Hannay, Timo, 26–29

hantavirus, 202

Happé, Francesca, 273–74

happiness, 138, 301

harassment, 94

Harris, Sam, 259–60

Harvard Business School, 284

Harvard School of Public Health, 211

Haun, Daniel, 364–67

Hawking, Stephen, 72, 185

health care, 200–205

heart disease, 201, 230, 234, 370, 441

hedgehog/fox distinction, 51

Heffernan, Virginia, 134

Heider, Fritz, 273

Heisenberg, Werner, 192

helmets, 200, 204

Henry, John, 62

herd mentality, 281

heresy, 62, 63–64

heroes, 267–76, 282

Heyes, Cecilia, 350

hidden-variables theory, 193–94

Higgs, Peter, 272

Higgs boson, 139, 140, 174–75, 177–78, 180, 197, 300, 319

high blood pressure, 283

higher education, 346, 385–86, 390–93, 459, 466–67

higher mind, 87

Highfield, Roger, 272–76

Hillis, W. Daniel, 164–65

Hinduism, 81

Hiscox, Michael, 359

history, 61, 427–30, 444–46

HIV/AIDS, 46, 126, 201

Hobsbawn, Eric, 216

Hoffman, Donald D., 135–38

holography/complementarity, 185–86

Holton, Gerald, 224

Homer, 153

Homo erectus , 61, 80

homogenization, 80–85, 214–17, 281

Homo sapiens , 61, 114, 343–44

Hood, Bruce, 328–31

Hubble’s constant, 356

hubristic pride, 269–71

Huffington, Arianna, 283–84

Huffington Post , 91–92, 401

human capital, 346

Human Genome Project, 273, 288, 295, 299

human geography, 352–54

Human Microbiome Project (HMP), 297–98

human/nature divide, 312–14

human rights, 4–5, 243

Hume, David, 103

Humeau, Marguerite, 216–17

Humphrey, Nicholas, 454–55

Hypatia, 58

hypercivilization, 147

hyperworry, 372

Iacobini, Marco, 261–64

IBM, 171

ice ages, 147

identity theft, 316

idiocracy/stupidity, 343–46, 458–60

imagination, 198–99, 370–71

imagined threats, 370–71

immigration, 119–20, 124, 235, 236, 244

immunization, 201–2, 403–4

impact, 328–31

impulse control, 134, 221

income inequality, 108, 166–67, 171–73, 381

incompetent systems, 98–99

India, 115, 233, 234

indirect reciprocity, 273–74

individuality, 4, 33, 78–79, 267–68, 272–76. See also heroes; homogenization

Industrial Revolution, 31, 69, 289–90, 337, 384

infectious disease, 201–2, 296–97, 403–4. See also bacteria; viruses

influenza, 201, 202

information-ecosystem metaphor, 462

Information Revolution, 31, 134

Inquisition, 421

Instagram, 173, 255

instant gratification, 42–43

intellectual property rights, 98–99, 254–56, 316, 317

interdependencies, 358–63

intergenerational conflict, 229–32, 236–37. See also aging population

Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs), 106

International Data Corporation, 171

International Space Station, 68–69

International Telecommunication Union, 318

Internet. See also social media

backup systems, 16, 17–18

cyberattack risks, 2, 12, 284, 316, 408–9

cyberspace, 53

David and Goliath scenario, 15

devaluation of written word and, 87, 90–92

electronic tattoos and, 450–53

fragility of complex systems, 19–21

illegal drugs and, 442

impact on adolescent brain development, 46

instant gratification and, 42–43

intellectual property rights, 254–56

leveling influence of, 14–16

new opportunities, 131–32

news articles on, 342

online silos, 401–2

patience deficit and, 42–43

Popular Culture and, 246–49

power and, 315–18

as reference library, 427

risks of interconnectedness, 12–13, 17–18, 280–82

risk to liberal democracy, 240–45

safe mode for, 17–18

search engines, 164–65, 461

“smart” solutions, 53–55

interplanetary economy, 67–71, 75–76

interstellar travel, 355–57

intersubjectivity, 87

inter-universal Teichmüller theory, 388

intimate-partner battering, 156, 157

investment banks, 159–63

IQ (intelligence quotient), 343–46, 458–60, 478

Iran, 118, 244, 456

Iraq, 1–2, 158

Islam, 62, 63, 65, 81

is-ought fallacy, 103–6

Italy, 235

Jacquet, Jennifer, 213

James, William, 41, 223

Japan, 118, 119, 124, 235

Jardin, Xeni, 286–88

Jefferson, Thomas, 453

Jeffery, Kate, 229–32

Jehovah’s Witnesses, 60–62

Jerome, St., 58

John of Patmos, St., 60

journalism, 36–37, 139–45, 150–53, 248–49, 342, 347–48, 379, 401–2

Judaism, 62, 65, 81

Kaczynski, Ted, 50–51

Kahneman, Daniel, 3, 223, 475

Kant, Immanuel, 105

Kauffman, Stuart A., 336–39

Kaufmann, Eric, 65

Kedrosky, Paul, 444–46

Kelly, Kevin, 117–20

Keltner, Dacher, 278–79

Kennedy, John F., 10

Kennedy, Robert, 108–9

Kenrick, Douglas T., 343–46

Kepler, Johannes, 336

Kerouac, Jack, 311

Keynesian economics, 112, 149

Khrushchev, Nikita, 10

Kickstarter, 212, 445

King, Stephen, 434–35

Kinsbourne, Marcel, 86–89

Kirilenko, Andrei, 172

Klein, Gary, 403–4

Knutson, Brian, 370–72

Kosko, Bart, 468–72

Kosslyn, Stephen M., 362–63

Krause, Kai, 319–21

Krauss, Lawrence M., 195–97

Kreye, Andrian, 206–8

Krishnan, Shunmuga, 43

Kuhn, Thomas, 198

kurtosis/fat tails, 464–67

Kurzban, Robert, 238–39

Kurzweil, Ray, 32, 34, 236

Lang, Serge, 267

language impairment, 420

Lanier, Jason, 359

Laplace, Marquis de, 339

Laplacian Demon, 339

Large Hadron Collider (LHC), 174–80, 183, 197, 198–99, 273

LaTeX, 385–86

Latinos, 119–20, 438–39

learning disabilities, 376

Leavis, F. R., 417

LeDoux, Joseph, 285

Lehman Brothers, 163, 465

Lehrer, Jonah, 269, 270

leverage, financial, 163

Levi, Margaret, 358–61

liberal democracy, 99, 100–102, 105–6, 112–13, 240–45, 248, 250–53

libertarianism, 51, 200–202, 316–17

Library of Congress, 255–56

lifestyle choices, 370–71

Lih, Andrew, 254–56

Linn, Marcia, 397

Lisi, Anthony Garrett, 225–28

literature, personal letters in, 90–91

living standards, 107–16

Livio, Mario, 188–90

Lloyd, Seth, 159–63

local cooperation, 365, 367

locality, 184–87

Lombrozo, Tania, 396–98

Lorentz, Hendrik, 181, 182

LSD, 443

Luther, Martin, 223

lying, 269–71

Lysenkoism, 66

MacNamara, Robert, 10

MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction), 6–8

Maddison, Angus, 107

magic, 168–70

malware, 79

manual skills, 306–9

many-worlds explanation, 192–93

Mao Zedong, 108

Marcus, Gary, 447–49

marijuana, 46

market economy, 81, 105–6. See also financial markets

Marolf, Donald, 183

Martin, Ursula, 325–27

Maslow, Abraham, 277

Massey Energy, 35

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs), 385–86, 390–93

material progress, 107–9, 319–24

mate value, 154–57, 323

mathematics, 273, 383–89