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The Last Unknowns
The Last Unknowns: Deep, Elegant, Profound Unanswered Questions About the Universe, the Mind, the Future of Civilization, and the Meaning of Life | John Brockman
16 posts | 2 read | 6 to read
THE UNIVERSE'S ULTIMATE MYSTERIES, PRESENTED BY "THE WORLD'S FINEST MINDS" (The Guardian) This is a little book of grand questionsunknowns that, if answered, could unlock the secrets of our world, our civilization, and even the meaning of life. Here are the deepest riddles that have fascinated, obsessed, and haunted the greatest thinkers of our time, including Nobel laureates, cosmologists, philosophers, economists, prize-wining novelists, religious scholars, and more than 250 leading scientists, artists, and scholars. In The Last Unknowns, John Brockman, publisher of Edge.org, asks a mind-blowing gathering of innovative thinkers (Booklist): What is The Last Question, your last question, the question for which you will be remembered? Featuring the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel JARED DIAMOND Nobel Prize-winning economist RICHARD THALER Harvard psychologist STEVEN PINKER religion scholar ELAINE PAGELS author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics CARLO ROVELLI Booker Prizewinning novelist IAN McEWAN neuroscientist SAM HARRIS philosopher DANIEL C. DENNETT MIT theorist SHERRY TURKLE decoder of the human genome J. CRAIG VENTER Nobel Prize-winning physicist FRANK WILCZEK New York Times columnist CARL ZIMMER Whole Earth founder STEWART BRAND economist TYLER COWEN Wired founding editor KEVIN KELLY Princeton physicist FREEMAN DYSON musician BRIAN ENO Duke economist DAN ARIELY Harvard cosmologist LISA RANDALL, and more than 200 others.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
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SpookyMazeOfBooks
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@TheAromaofBooks #Bookspin, #Bookspinbingo2023
17 : O : The Overnight Guest
Rating : 4
So I can either just work on that roll or
Spin 7 :Q - which means add a book since none of my January TBR starts with Q .

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MrsGagnonreads2024
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Reynosa8701
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1) certified nurse aide/ licensed massage therapist
2) I don‘t have one I just like reading
3) no pets but 3 kiddos
4) working, eating, cooking, deep cleaning, reading,
5) people who are rude and chew nasty
6) I used to collect High heels but found out how bad they are for you at Massage school.
7) books and scrapbooking
8) don‘t really listen to music
#LITSYLOVEGETTING2KNOWU

Seekingtardis 🥰🥰🍰eating!!! Same!! 4y
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rjsthumbelina
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Mehso-so

Trying to catch up on posting all the books I had read lately (which, admittedly, hasn't been much!) This was interesting, but very strange. Literally just questions that dont yet have answers from big thinkers.

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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Pickpick

I received this uncorrected proof through Goodreads. It‘s a book of questions, by experts in various fields... they run the gambit from just plain cheeky to so deep in their field as to be over anyone else‘s head, but the majority are thought provoking and interesting and I enjoyed the reading experience.

And it was my book 4 of my #14Book14Weeks with @TheHeartlandBookFairy

Geeklet This sounds right up my alley! 5y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Great reason to read more...there‘s always more worlds, ideas, and perspectives to look at the world through....and infinite imaginary variations to visit.

daniwithtea Love this!!! 5y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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That‘s a scary one and as anyone who reads or watches dystopians know...once you forget the basics, it can be really hard to start over.😱

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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Reminds me of a quote:

“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”
Carl Sagan

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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Some of these are very deep, some over my head ever, and then some where I go....

Um, the time between two consecutive minutes...a nanosecond?🤷‍♀️

Riveted_Reader_Melissa And that‘s usually when I know I‘ve read too many of these in a row.🤯 5y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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I ask that question a lot too!

wanderinglynn But is public opposition actually that widespread? Or that with modern media/social media, the opposition has much larger platforms which to preach their dissent? 5y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @wanderinglynn That‘s a great question too. I happen to agree with you that that is a large part of it. But now that we have measles outbreaks again, I‘m thinking the true non-believers are bigger than I actually realized and I‘m asking myself why we let such miss-information spread so far with little pushback. (edited) 5y
wanderinglynn Agree. It‘s hard to fight the misinfo because all we have are facts (non-emotional, brain food). While the opposition have scare tactics (emotional, heart & gut-wrenching impact). And being human, our heart tends to dominate when there‘s strong emotional response (e.g., vaccines will give my kid autism). 5y
See All 11 Comments
Dolly Sometimes science gets in the way of greed and cuts into gigantic profits. 5y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @wanderinglynn I had an argument with someone about the idea she had that the HPV vaccine would make her daughter sterile. And I could not change her mind that she had gotten misinformation. She referred me to the medical looking site with the data, that was just slightly differently named than the real Association and looked official but was other than medical backed if you did A LOT of research. Scary & no one wants to admit they‘ve been duped. 5y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Dolly That too! Some are scare tactics, but some are like the Big Tobacco tactics of another era. Clean coal and global climate change is not caused by humans come to mind now, huge propaganda machines with paid “scientists” to protect the bottom line of a corporate interest. 5y
BookNAround I believe that even science concedes (via experiments) that anecdotal evidence is more persuasive than scientifically proven evidence as far as the general population is concerned. Big sigh! 5y
BookNAround I should add that I use the term evidence in the phrase anecdotal evidence very lightly. As in, it‘s not necessarily true but someone is asserting it is—the whole my cousin‘s friend‘s vet‘s hairdresser had it happen to her thing. 5y
Amiable I work at a hospital. We have this conversation all the time. Why people would trust their children‘s lives re: vaccine decisions based on the thoughts and opinions of a former Playboy bunny (i.e. Jenny McCarthy) instead of the entire body of medical professionals (i.e. the American Medical Association, etc.) is beyond our comprehension. 5y
RamsFan1963 @Amiable Yes, she does a great amount of illegal drugs, alcohol and casual sex, but it's the vaccines that caused her child's autism. Way to take responsibility for your own actions. 5y
wanderinglynn That IS scary. 5y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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PSreads73 This reminds me of Ready Player One. My favorite book. 5y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @PSreads73 Ready Player One was very good. 5y
Lady_Tigana_20 Saw the movie. Got on the list for the library ebook. Ready Player One surprised me, I will admit. It kept me wanting more. Ok, it‘s 1 am. My eyes can barely stay open, but . . . one more chapter. I was up till 3 am one night. 5y
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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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I think I can answer this one... it‘s not looking good. 🤷‍♀️

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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
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🧐

PSreads73 It is to the people we are closest that we are usually the most mean. 5y
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