John Brockman - What Should We Be Worried About?

blown opportunities, 257–58

compartmentalization, 415–16

decline in news media coverage, 139–45

decline of scientific hero, 267–68, 272–76, 282

diversity in, 438–39

in educational institutions, 425–26

elite versus “scientifically challenged” majority, 424–26

as enemy of humankind, 394–95

extending life span, 225–28, 230–32, 236

failure to understand everything, 387–89

Fourth Culture as threat to, 247–48

free will versus, 218–24

human/nature divide and, 313–14

impact of increased medical knowledge, 203–5

impact on reproduction, 23, 118–22

importance of impact in research, 261–64, 328–31

importance of science literacy, 241–42

is-ought fallacy, 103–6

“monsters from the id,” 147–49

objective/subjective asymmetry, 127–30

obsession with impact, 261–64, 328–31

peer-reviewed life-science publishing, 261–64, 330–31

physical threats, 146–47

positive contributions of, 244–45

public funding for research, 290–91, 328–31, 422–23

social media impact on coverage, 143–45

sociopolitical forces in, 421–23

undervaluing of, 319

university partnerships with industry, 261–64, 330

war on excellence, 265–68

science capture, 37

scientific method, 341

search engines, 164–65, 461

Searle, John, 28

seatbelts, 372

Segre, Gino, 280–82

Seife, Charles, 35–37

Sejnowski, Terrence J., 299–301

self-actualization needs, 277–79

self-driving cars, 31, 56–57

self-esteem, 47, 156, 270, 277, 278

self-interest, 359, 364–65

self-reflection, 95

self-sufficiency, 307

semantic search, 164–65

serenity prayer, 373–74

Seventh-Day Adventists, 62

Shakespeare, William, 136, 326

shame, 270

Shermer, Michael, 103–6

Shockley, William, 267

short-term memory, 428–29

Shostak, Seth, 72–76

Silk Road, 81

silos, online, 401–2

Simmel, Mary-Ann, 273

Singularity, The, 30–34, 50, 58, 207, 349–51

Sitaraman, Ramesh, 43

Slashdot , 401

sleep habits, 85, 203, 284, 404, 406

Slovic, Paul, 3

Smale, Stephen, 267

smallpox, 403–4

smartphones, 14, 79, 93–97, 399–400, 453, 454

“smart” solutions, 53–55

Smith, Cameron, 355

Smith, Laurence C., 114–15

smoking, 46, 200–201, 370

Smolin, Lee, 191–94

Snow, C. P., 51, 246, 417–20

social chaos, 20

social determinism, 420

social media

access tiers, 408

children and, 94

disconnect between news and understanding, 347

electronic tattoos and, 451–52

human interaction and, 86–89, 94–95

impact on adolescent brain development, 46

impact on science coverage, 143–45

instant gratification and, 43

intellectual property rights, 254–56

power and, 315–16

social prejudice, 262–63

Socrates, 148

solar energy, 75–76

solitude, 95–96

South Korea, 239

South Park (movie), 49

Soviet Union, fall of, 3, 5, 11, 353

space aliens, 72–76

Space Ark, 355–56

space-warp propulsion, 356–57

SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation), 68–69

Spain, 235

Sperber, Dan, 131–33

spice drugs, 441

SSRN (Social Science Research Network), 465

stalking, 156–57

Standard Model, 177–79, 180, 189–90, 197

Stapel, Diederik, 269, 270

status seeking, 322–24

steam engines, 69

Sterling, Bruce, 34

Stigler, George, 35–36, 37

stochastics, fat tails/kurtosis, 464–67

Stodden, Victoria, 340–42

Strauch, Barbara, 139–42

stress, 85, 135, 203, 218–19, 221, 283–84

Strogatz, Steven, 78–79

stroke, 234, 370

stupidity/idiocracy, 343–46, 458–60

stuttering, 420

subjective experience, 27

Sudan, 251

Sully, James, 183

Sumner, Seirian, 22–25

Superconducting Super Collider (canceled), 175

superstition, 65–66

surveillance, 316, 410–11

Susskind, Leonard, 182

Swan, Melanie, 406–9

synchronization, 78–79, 82

synergy, 362–63

synthetic biology, 12–13, 22–25, 50

tablets, 14, 93–97, 399–400

taboo words, 48–49

Taiwan, 239

Taleb, Nassim Nicholas, 464–67

Tales of the Unexpected (TV series), 26

Taliban, 215

tattoos, digital, 450–53

tax evasion, 244

Taylor, Timothy, 60–64

teamwork. See cooperation

Tegmark, Max, 30–33

telescope technology, 73–75

television, 39–40, 46

television signals, 72–76

Teller, Edward, 267

Terman, Louis, 478

terrorism, 2–3, 11, 12, 20, 132, 206, 433, 435, 437, 451

testosterone, 218, 238–39, 419

thalidomide, 441

themata, 224

Theory of Everything, 190

Thiel Fellowship program, 268, 352

Third Culture, 246, 417–18

Thirion, Bertrand, 412

Thompson, James, 345–46

Thutmose III of Egypt, 60

time, 41–44, 240–41, 427–30

Tooby, John, 146–49

Topol, Eric J., 292–94

touch interface, 310–11, 454–55

Tracy, Jessica L., 269–71

trade, in market economy, 81, 105–6

transhumanism, 50, 352–54

transparency, 14, 106, 242–43

transport, 69, 355–57

tribalism, 148, 348, 358

trust, 153, 155

Tudge, Colin, 394–95

Turing, Alan, 28

Turkle, Sherry, 93–97

Tversky, Amos, 3

Twain, Mark, 86

Twitter, 43, 87, 241, 254, 255–56, 315–16

typewriters, 311

U2, 207

Ukraine, 415

uncertainty, 289–91

understanding, 347–48, 387–89

UNESCO, 5

Ungaretti, Giuseppe, 461, 463

UNICEF, 46–47

uniform probability model, 470

Universal Turing Machine, 278

universe, 195–96, 355–57

unknown unknowns, 1, 289–91, 447–49

unnecessary worrying, 134, 200–202

Upper Big Branch mine disaster (Virginia), 35

Up with Technology, 445

urbanization, 115–16, 118–19

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 283–84, 421

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 412

U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 317

U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 48–49

U.S. National Security Agency, 172–73

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), 36

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), 36

Ussher of Armagh, Archbishop, 61

U.S. Supreme Court, 48–49

utopian ideologies, war and, 4

vaccination, 201–2, 403–4

Vassar, Michael, 277–79

vegetative state, measuring consciousness, 414

Venter, J. Craig, 200–202

video cameras, 451, 452–53

video games, 38–40, 46, 247, 433–34

Vienna Circle, 415

Vietnam, 1

Vinge, Vernor, 6–8, 32, 34

violence, 156, 157, 259–60, 433–35, 436–37. See also video games; war

Virgin Galactic, 69

virtual reality, 38–40

viruses, 125–26, 201–2, 282, 295–98, 403–4

vocabulary, 48–49, 419–20

Volcker, Paul, 111–12

Voodoo, 207

Voyager 1 spacecraft, 67–68, 70, 355–56

Wallich, Henry, 112

Walmart, 171

war, 1–13, 38–40, 75, 105–6, 247, 316

War on Cancer, 286–88, 303

War on Drugs, 260, 440–43

water resources, 83, 332–35, 378

Watson, James, 267

Watters, Ethan, 85

Weber, Max, 336

Weibo, 254, 255

Weinberg’s Dream, 339

Weinstein, Eric R., 265–68

Weisman, Alan, 113

West Nile virus, 201

whistleblowers, 369