- Paperback: 408 pages
- Publisher: Harper Perennial; Original edition (2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0062020447
- ISBN-13: 978-0062020444
- Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 13.6 x 2.8 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 265,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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27 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Interesting insights, but way too long
8 Feb 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
What would happen if you gathered the 150 smartest people in the world and asked each of them to answer a single question? Every year Edge.com does just that. "Is the Internet changing the way you think?" was this year's question, and the responses are very diverse. Some say "yes", some say "no"; some say it has had positive effects, others say negative.
Most of the respondents are high-level scientists, mathematicians, or business figures--a disproportionate number considered how the Internet affects scientific research. There aren't any religious leaders on the list, save for three of the "four horsemen" of New Atheism: Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Sam Harris. Overall, the book is mainly a response from secular intellectuals. (How has the Internet changed how school teachers think? How about housewives? Farmers? Community college professors? Priests?)
In terms of content, Brockman's book is way too long. Each respondent gets 2-3 pages, so the book is well above 400 total. After just a handful of responses, the contributions begin getting repetitive. Also, many of the contributions seem--at least to this non-scientist--to be little more than intellectual posturing, with respondents trying to prove genius by referencing dense scientific terms or theories.
I wouldn't recommend buying this book. If you're interested, borrow it or head to the store and browse the first couple of chapters. I think the best answer to the book's question comes not from its own pages but from Nicholas Carr's "The Shallows".
Most of the respondents are high-level scientists, mathematicians, or business figures--a disproportionate number considered how the Internet affects scientific research. There aren't any religious leaders on the list, save for three of the "four horsemen" of New Atheism: Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Sam Harris. Overall, the book is mainly a response from secular intellectuals. (How has the Internet changed how school teachers think? How about housewives? Farmers? Community college professors? Priests?)
In terms of content, Brockman's book is way too long. Each respondent gets 2-3 pages, so the book is well above 400 total. After just a handful of responses, the contributions begin getting repetitive. Also, many of the contributions seem--at least to this non-scientist--to be little more than intellectual posturing, with respondents trying to prove genius by referencing dense scientific terms or theories.
I wouldn't recommend buying this book. If you're interested, borrow it or head to the store and browse the first couple of chapters. I think the best answer to the book's question comes not from its own pages but from Nicholas Carr's "The Shallows".
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Thinking??? Ah..eh? What is thinking anyway.
15 Dec 2011
I haven't finished this book yet, but felt I had to write my review now. Maybe this way I can save some bucks for a fellow hoping to find real thought here.
So, here are my comments about the book:
1. First and foremost, there's is no attempt to define or tackle the prerequisite question: " What is thinking?". Such a mistake can be acceptable by lay men like us, but from top notch intellectuals, it's not. This becomes apparent very quickly as the contributors start discussing very different things, sometimes completely unrelated to thought and thinking.
2. Not enough focus. Some of the contributors completely abondoned the question and talked about other things, some even sounded like big kids discussing how the net will improve their online gaming experience!
3. Too trivial. Some contributions were trivial, some were really very silly. I'm sorry for using this term, but that's really the best way to describe it, I'm not making fun of anybody.
4. Repetitive. It was expected for this numbber of contributors to be repetitive. What was not expected, was too be this much and this soon. It seems, the world's smartest people are not that creative.
5. Very selective. We can not, in such a religious world discount the relgious implications of the internet as seen by religious leaders. This is ommiting a big chunck of the equation.
6. Thinking or being. Finally, not expounding on the topic of being as it relates to thinking, one either gets the impression we're just thinking machines (which can be seen as an outcome of the net) or either it comes back to the first point.
Finally, I can say that this book proves that the primary effect ofthe internet is to make our fellow scientists and top leaders... Well, more or less like us laymen.
To be little optimistic, let me say that may be I'm generalizing too much and too early. In fact, the reason, I gave two stars is that some contributions are thoughtful and contain some deep and original "thought"
So, here are my comments about the book:
1. First and foremost, there's is no attempt to define or tackle the prerequisite question: " What is thinking?". Such a mistake can be acceptable by lay men like us, but from top notch intellectuals, it's not. This becomes apparent very quickly as the contributors start discussing very different things, sometimes completely unrelated to thought and thinking.
2. Not enough focus. Some of the contributors completely abondoned the question and talked about other things, some even sounded like big kids discussing how the net will improve their online gaming experience!
3. Too trivial. Some contributions were trivial, some were really very silly. I'm sorry for using this term, but that's really the best way to describe it, I'm not making fun of anybody.
4. Repetitive. It was expected for this numbber of contributors to be repetitive. What was not expected, was too be this much and this soon. It seems, the world's smartest people are not that creative.
5. Very selective. We can not, in such a religious world discount the relgious implications of the internet as seen by religious leaders. This is ommiting a big chunck of the equation.
6. Thinking or being. Finally, not expounding on the topic of being as it relates to thinking, one either gets the impression we're just thinking machines (which can be seen as an outcome of the net) or either it comes back to the first point.
Finally, I can say that this book proves that the primary effect ofthe internet is to make our fellow scientists and top leaders... Well, more or less like us laymen.
To be little optimistic, let me say that may be I'm generalizing too much and too early. In fact, the reason, I gave two stars is that some contributions are thoughtful and contain some deep and original "thought"
Worthy of reflection but repetitive
4 Jan 2012
Amazon Verified Purchase
While I certainly did enjoy much of this book - and it did introduce me to Edge.org which was an unexpected boon - I'd have to concur with earlier reviews. By the half-way point the views and opinions gathered start to feel remarkably similar. Granted I assume all of these were written in a vacuum by the contributors so they'd have no way of knowing the unconscious level of "group think" that was happening. I lay the blame at the editor's feet for this oversight. All the contributors are incredibly smart but for the reader, less repetition would be preferable. That being said, I did find this collection a decent philosophical treatise and it did introduce me to thought leaders and other books i might now have read. Chris Anderson's, Noga Arikha's and Paul Kedrosky's contributions were personal favourites. Do love Chris' idea that the Internet has allowed us to rediscover fire. Genius.
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