What Should We Be Worried About?: Real Scenarios That Keep Scientists Up at Night

The latest iteration of the Edge Question comes is something of a loaded question. You can't answer "What should we worry about?" until you've first answered the question, "Should we be worried at all?" In this book, the framework lends to speculation on what worry is in the first place, and how it can be used toward our intended aims. As cognitive Scientist Dan Sperber rightly points out, worry isn't the problem, it's how we use it.

One recalls the point made in Morse's Psychonomics: How Modern Science Aims to Conquer the Mind and How the Mind Prevails: People fear plane crashes more than car crashes even though the former are less frequent and less deadly. But it's not irrational as it seems because fear (worry) can be useful in directing energy and effecting change, and that can lead to greater safety.

This collection is something of a crepehanger's dream come true. People who are easily discouraged by big problems will not have a fun time with this book. But, though there is plenty of doom and gloom to take away from this collection of essays, there is plenty of fascinating thought to go with it, and so is well worth the read. And where else can one read arguments from the brightest minds in the world on the same subject? After reading this (and other Edge titles), the reader feels as though he has just mingled with Steven Pinker, Daniel Dennett, Gary Klein, and 150 other brilliant people at a cocktail party.

A word on the publisher: The Edge, the internet salon from which this book springs, is a real jewel in the neo-modernist age.Read more ›

This entertaining and thoughtful book is a compilation of answers to a question posed by John Brockman of Edge.org to a galaxy of talented people in biology, history, philosophy, neuroscience, and many other fields. I was somewhat perturbed by the subtitle: "Real Scenarios That Keep Scientists Up At Night," but I was so intrigued by the overall premise that I couldn't resist. And I'm so glad I did, because I found nearly every page to be full of challenging and thoughtful analyses of a variety of topics: some obvious ones like the potential for nuclear conflict, and others more obscure (at least in my experience): the faiLure to account for the role of microorganisms in cancers.

There are approximately 150 short chapters, some no more than a page, each comprising an individual contribution from an eminent thinker. Some names were familiar to me: David Christian, Howard Gardner, Nassim Nicholas Taleb; while I hadn't heard of many others like Andrew Lih or Victoria Stodden. I found some segments more illuminating than others: I now have a better understanding of the Singularity for example, but I have to admit much of the sections on theoretical physics were less than crystal clear to me. Anyone who spends much time dealing with the Internet and media will find the chapters on "Is Idiocracy Looming?" and "Worrying About Stupid" highly valuable, though others like "Unmitigated Arrogance" and "Illusions of Understanding and the Loss of Intellectual Humility" were useful counterpoints. It was comforting to read "There is Nothing to Worry About, and There Never Was," "Misplaced Worries," and "What is a Good Life?", especially after reading about "Rats in a Spherical Trap," for example.

I would not recommend trying to read this straight through because there's simply too much to grasp all once. It makes a perfect book to keep close at hand, to read and ponder and skip about in, and to consider it your introduction to some fascinating minds.

I love these Edge annual question books. This is the second one I’ve purchased. I know I can read them online, but I also know from experience that I will read them more consistently if I have them loaded on a digital reader.

Reading these essays--in bits and pieces now and then--is getting to be a delightful habit. Whenever I have five or ten minutes to kill, I know I can turn to my digital downloaded Edge book. I always keep it loaded (on the device, rather than in the Cloud) for quick access usually using my phone rather than my Kindle device. That way, I know I will never be caught without something brilliant and fascinating to entertain me.

I particularly enjoyed this Edge question: “What should we be worried about?” John Brockman asked the brilliant members of Edge to “Tell us something that worries you (for scientific reasons), but doesn't seem to be on the popular radar yet—and why it should be. Or tell us something that you have stopped worrying about, even if others do, and why it should be taken off the radar.” For me that sounded irresistible. It was the right question to hold my interest.

I’d say about 50% of the essays were delightfully thought-provoking. I can finish one in a few minutes and then sit and think about it…or use it as a conversation piece with the next clever person with whom I find myself conversing. Another 25% of the essays are merely pleasurable, but contain nothing remarkably new or noteworthy. Even so, I enjoy revisiting these ideas as presented by the brilliant minds of Edge…unquestionably some of the brightest and most original minds on the planet. Some of the writings are exceptionally creative; others are witty and clever. And then, of course, there is the 25% that for one reason or another don’t appeal to me at all. I’ve learned to identify those essays quickly and skip them.

In short: these essays are intellectual candy for any inquiring mind.