What Should We Be Worried About?

Drawing from the horizons of science, today's leading thinkers reveal the hidden threats nobody is talking about--and expose the false fears everyone else is distracted by. What should we be worried about? That is the question John Brockman, publisher of Edge.org ("The world's smartest website"--The Guardian), posed to the planet's most influential minds. He asked them to disclose something that, for scientific reasons, worries them--particularly scenarios that aren't on the popular radar yet. Encompassing neuroscience, economics, philosophy, physics, psychology, biology, and more--here are 150 ideas that will revolutionize your understanding of the world. Steven Pinker uncovers the real risk factors for war ¿ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi peers into the coming virtual abyss ¿ Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek laments our squandered opportunities to prevent global catastrophe ¿ Seth Lloyd calculates the threat of a financial black hole ¿ Alison Gopnik on the loss of childhood ¿ Nassim Nicholas Taleb explains why firefighters understand risk far better than economic "experts" ¿ Matt Ridley on the alarming re-emergence of superstition ¿ Daniel C. Dennett and george dyson ponder the impact of a major breakdown of the Internet ¿ Jennifer Jacquet fears human-induced damage to the planet due to "the Anthropocebo Effect" ¿ Douglas Rushkoff fears humanity is losing its soul ¿ Nicholas Carr on the "patience deficit" ¿ Tim O'Reilly foresees a coming new Dark Age ¿ Scott Atran on the homogenization of human experience ¿ Sherry Turkle explores what's lost when kids are constantly connected ¿ Kevin Kelly outlines the looming "underpopulation bomb" ¿ Helen Fisher on the fate of men ¿ Lawrence Krauss dreads what we don't know about the universe ¿ Susan Blackmore on the loss of manual skills ¿ Kate Jeffery on the death of death ¿ plus J. Craig Venter, Daniel Goleman, Virginia Heffernan, Sam Harris, Brian Eno, Martin Rees, and more