Edge 270 - January 7, 2009
(13,300 words)
This online EDGE edition with streaming video is available at:
http://www.edge.org/documents/archive/edge270.html
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THE WORLD QUESTION CENTER
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THE EDGE ANNUAL QUESTION 2009
151 Contributors (107,000 words)
WHAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING?
"What game-changing scientific ideas and developments do you expect to live to see?"
Contributors: Alan Alda, Chris Anderson, Alun Anderson, Stephon H. Alexander, Mahzarin R. Banaji, John D. Barrow, Patrick Bateson, Gregory Benford, Yochai Benkler, Jesse Bering, David Berreby, Jamshed Bharucha, Susan Blackmore, David Bodanis, Stefano Boeri, Lera Boroditsky, Nick Bostrom, Stewart Brand, Rodney Brooks, David Buss, William Calvin, Leo Chalupa, Nicholas A. Christakis, Andy Clark, Gregory Cochran, M. Csikszentmihalyi, Austin Dacey, David Dalrymple, Paul Davies, Richard Dawkins, Aubrey de Grey, Emanuel Derman, Daniel C. Dennett, Keith Devlin, Betsy Devine, Eric Drexler, Freeman Dyson, George Dyson, David Eagleman, Brian Eno, Juan Enriquez, Daniel Everett, Paul Ewald, Christine Finn, Eric Fischl, Helen Fisher, Kenneth W. Ford, Richard Foreman, Howard Gardner, Joel Garreau, James Geary, David Gelernter, Neil Gershenfeld, Marcelo Gleiser, Daniel Goleman, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Brian Goodwin, Alison Gopnik, April Gornik, John Gottman, Jonathan Haidt, Haim Harari, Henry Harpending, Sam Harris, Marc D. Hauser, Marti Hearst, Roger Highfield, W. Daniel Hillis, Gerald Holton, Donald D. Hoffman, Verena Huber-Dyson, Nicholas Humphrey, Marco Iacoboni, Eric Kandel, Stuart Kauffman, Kevin Kelly, Marcel Kinsbourne, MD, Brian Knutson, Terence Koh, Bart Kosko, Stephen M. Kosslyn, Kai Krause, Laurence Krauss, Andrian Kreye, A. Garrett Lisi, Seth Lloyd, Gary Marcus, Ian McEwan, Thomas Metzinger, Oliver Morton, David G. Myers, P.Z. Myers, Steve Nadis, Monica Narula, Randolph Nesse, Tor Norretranders, Hans Ulrich Obrist, James J. O'Donnell, Gloria Origgi, Dean Ornish, M.D., Mark Pagel, Bruce Parker, Philippe Parreno, Gregory Paul, Irene Pepperberg, Clifford A. Pickover, Steven Pinker, Ernst Poppel, Corey S. Powell, Robert R. Provine, Lisa Randall, Ed Regis, Howard Rheingold, Carlo Rovelli, Douglas Rushkoff, Karl Sabbagh, Paul Saffo, Scott Sampson, Robert Sapolsky, Dimitar Sasselov, Roger Schank, Stephen H. Schneider, Peter Schwartz, Charles Seife, Gino Segre, Tino Sehgal, Terrence Sejnowski, Martin Seligman, Robert Shapiro, Rupert Sheldrake, Michael Shermer, Kevin Slavin, Barry Smith, Laurence C. Smith, Lee Smolin, Dan Sperber, Maria Spiropulu, Paul J. Steinhardt, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Timothy Taylor, Max Tegmark, Frank J. Tipler, John Tooby & Leda Cosmides, Joseph F. Traub, Sherry Turkle, Alexander Vilenkin, J. Craig Venter, Frank Wilczek, Ian Wilmut, Anton Zeilinger
Press Coverage: Arts & Letters Daily, The Guardian, The Times, Xconomy, The Guardian (Science Blog), The Telegraph, O'Reilly Radar, NPR, The Dallas Morning News, Beliefnet, The Herald, Grist, Pharyngula, Newsweek, The News & Observer
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"Question was open because it had not yet received any form; it was a kind of prime matter, or a substance that existed in a realm of potentiality, an indefinite state that had not yet become anything in particular and maybe never would. But any formed object, on the other hand, would have denied all that: if it has already received form it is over, closed, ended; it has slid from the vague cloud of potentiality into a collision with the flat wall of fact that lay hidden behind it. " (Thomas McEvilley (Art in America, November, 2008)
JAMES LEE BYARS
A STUDY OF POSTERITY
By Thomas McEvilley
A profile of the late James Lee Byars, founder of The World Question Center
Though James Lee Byars has been increasingly identified since his death, with elegant, reductive objects, his most radical-and characteristic-works were ephemeral and even immaterial.
Further Reading on Edge on James Lee Byars and The World Question Center: "He Confuses One And Two The 200 I.Q.: Mr. Byars By Mr. Brockman"
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THE THIRD CULTURE
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THREE TULIPS
A new exhibition by Katinka Matson
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SELF AWARENESS: THE LAST FRONTIER
By V.S. Ramachandran
An Edge Original Essay
One of the last remaining problems in science is the riddle of consciousness. The human brain's mere lump of jelly inside your cranial vault--can contemplate the vastness of interstellar space and grapple with concepts such as zero and infinity. Even more remarkably it can ask disquieting questions about the meaning of its own existence. "Who am I" is arguably the most fundamental of all question.
It really breaks down into two problems--the problem of qualia and the problem of the self. My colleagues, the late Francis Crick and Christof Koch have done a valuable service in pointing out that consciousness might be an empirical rather than philosophical problem, and have offered some ingenious suggestions. But I would disagree with their position that the qualia problem is simpler and should be addressed first before we tackle the "Self." I think the very opposite is true. I have every confidence that the problem of self will be solved within the lifetimes of most people reading this column. But not qualia.
V.S. RAMACHANDRAN is a Neuroscientist, Director, Center for Brain and Cognition, University of California, San Diego; Author, "Phantoms in the Brain".
THE REALITY CLUB
On "The Last Frontier" by V.S. Ramachandran:
Marc D. Hauser, V.S. Ramachandran, Timothy D. Wilson, Arnold Trehub, Robert Provine
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ARTICLES OF NOTE
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THE NEW YORK TIMES
LONDON JOURNAL
Atheists Send a Message, on 800 Buses
By Sarah Lyall
[...MORE]
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LETRAS LIBRES
Science in the Street
By Ramon Gonzalez & Ferriz Y Diego Salazar
[...MORE]
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NEWSWEEK
On Second Thought...
By Sharon Begley
[...MORE]
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CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Not So Smart: Aliens, Computers, and Universities
By Josh Fischman
[...MORE]
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CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Not So Smart II: The Internet Doesn't Work So Well
By Josh Fischman
[...MORE]
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NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE
Risk Mismanagement
By Joe Nocera
[...MORE]
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THE GUARDIAN
Darwin shouldn't be hijacked by New Atheists - he is an ethical inspiration
Madeline Bunting
[...MORE]
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BOSTON REVIEW
God
Alex Byrne
[...MORE]
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TORONTO STAR
On second thought: Why being wrong can be a good thing
By Peter Calamai
[...MORE]
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COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW
Interview with Clay Shirky,
Part I / Part II
By Russ Juskalian
[...MORE]
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THE TIMES
Why the Pope is right--and wrong
Mark Henderson
[...MORE]
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THE NEW YORK TIMES
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Not-So-Lonely Planet
By Oliver Morton
[...MORE]
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BOSTON GLOBE
IDEAS
Paradigm lost
By Drake Bennett
[...MORE]
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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
The Science of Spore--The "Evolution" of Gaming
By Ed Regis
[...MORE]
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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
Evolution of the Mind: 4 Fallacies of Psychology
By David J. Buller
[...MORE]
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3 QUARKS DAILY
THE UNION OF EVOLUTION AND DESIGN
Jonathan Pfeiffer
[...MORE]
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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
Individual versus Group in Natural Selection
Steve Mirsky
[...MORE]
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THE ECONOMIST
Why we are, as we are
[...MORE]
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PROSPECT
A progressive manifesto
By David Bodanis
[...MORE]
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BOSTON GLOBE
A Talk With Lisa Randall
Particle physics, the aria
By Samuel P. Jacobs
[...MORE]
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NATURE
Towards responsible use of cognitive-enhancing drugs by the healthyBy Henry Greely, Barbara Sahakian, John Harris, Ronald C. Kessler, Michael Gazzaniga, Philip Campbell & Martha J. Farah
[...MORE]
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BOOKS FROM EDGE
Now Available in Bookstores and Online...
WHAT HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND ABOUT (Harper Perennial)
Edited by John Brockman
With An Introduction By BRIAN ENO
http://www.amazon.com/What-Have-Changed-Your-About/dp/0061686549
"A thought-provoking collection of focused and tightly argued pieces demonstrating the courage to change strongly held convictions."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"An intellectual treasure trove"
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
EDGE Presents...
WHAT HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND ABOUT
TODAY'S LEADING MINDS RETHINK EVERYTHING
Edited by John Brockman
With An Introduction By BRIAN ENO
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
Praise for 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 strongly recommend a visit." THE INDEPENDENT
"A great event in the Anglo-Saxon culture." EL MUNDS
"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 & 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
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This online EDGE edition is available at:
http://www.edge.org/documents/archive/edge270.html
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Edge Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit private operating foundation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
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EDGE
John Brockman, Editor and Publisher
Russell Weinberger, Associate Publisher
Karla Taylor, Editorial Assistant
Copyright (c) 2009 by EDGE Foundation, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Published by EDGE Foundation, Inc.,
5 East 59th Street, New York, NY 10022
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