But What If Were Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past

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We live in a culture of casual certitude This has always been the case, no matter how often that certainty has failed Though no generation believes there s nothing left to learn, every generation unconsciously assumes that what has already been defined and accepted is probably pretty close to how reality will be viewed in perpetuity And then, of course, time passes Ideas shift Opinions invert What once seemed reasonable eventually becomes absurd, replaced by modern perspectives that feel even irrefutable and secure until, of course, they don t But What If We re Wrongvisualizes the contemporary world as it will appear to those who ll perceive it as the distant past Chuck Klosterman asks questions that are profound in their simplicity How certain are we about our understanding of gravity How certain are we about our understanding of time What will be the defining memory of rock music, five hundred years from today How seriously should we view the content of our dreams How seriously should we view the content of television Are all sports destined for extinction Is it possible that the greatest artist of our era is currently unknown or weirder still widely known, but entirely disrespected Is it possible that we overrate democracy And perhaps most disturbing, is it possible that we ve reached the end of knowledge Kinetically slingshotting through a broad spectrum of objective and subjective problems, But What If We re Wrongis built on interviews with a variety of creative thinkers George Saunders, David Byrne, Jonathan Lethem, Kathryn Schulz, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Greene, Junot D az, Amanda Petrusich, Ryan Adams, Nick Bostrom, Dan Carlin, and Richard Linklater, among others interwoven with the type of high wire humor and nontraditional analysis only Klosterman would dare to attempt It s a seemingly impossible achievement a book about the things we cannot know, explained as if we did It s about how we live now, once now has become then. 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Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past ] by [ Chuck Klosterman ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr As the opening chapter questions whether we could be wrong about the existence of gravity, I thought this would be a book about philosophy and the nature of existence Of course, I should have looked closely at the author s name Chuck Klosterman writes about the arts and pop culture, so rather than questioning the nature of existence, mostly this book questions our value judgements on the arts and pop culture The chapter on books asks just how wrong we can be about who will be the voice of th As the opening chapter questions whether we could be wrong about the existence of gravity, I thought this would be a book about philosophy and the nature of existence Of course, I should have looked closely at the author s name Chuck Klosterman writes about the arts and pop culture, so rather than questioning the nature of existence, mostly this book questions our value judgements on the arts and pop culture The chapter on books asks just how wrong we can be about who will be the voice of this generation The chapter on music asks how rock music will be remembered 100 years in the future And so on through TV and televised sports There is one chapter of philosophical questions, asking what if reality is just a computer simulation What if our dreams aresignificant than we think This was my favourite chapter, and I wish the whole book wasalong these lines Oh well, no use wishing...Excuse me I just have to go pat myself on the back for ninety minutes for having read nonfiction voluntarily My brain is bigger than yours, and I am the greatest person alive I don t run, so I don t know what a runner s high feels like and I never will and I never want to, but I imagine it s a lot like finishing a nonfiction book you read without anyone making you Because, like, wow I feel like I just won a MacArthur grant, ...3.5 4 starsI loved this book up until about half way through It was covering topics like string theory, the multiverse, and our understanding of gravity One of my favorites As a species, the concept of infinity might be too much for us I suspect the human conception of infinity is akin to a dog s conception of a clock love this Discussions with Tyson and Greene Aristotle and Galileo make appearances throughout I also loved the chapter on history with Klosterman s saying, history is def 3.5 4 starsI loved this book up until about half way through It was covering topics like string theory, the multiverse, and our understanding of gravity One of my favorites As a species, the concept of infinity might be too much for us I suspect the human conception of infinity is akin to a dog s conception of a clock love th...Don t go into this book if you really expect to learn something or encounter firm opinions from Chuck Klosterman except, of course, his wholly incorrect view on the movie Independence Day I thought I might hate this book going by the first chapter, which seemed to talk in circles about doubt and certainty Fortunately, subsequent sections are arranged around different themes, and the focus does Klosterman a world of good Nobody wants to read nearly 300 pages of that annoying devil s advocate Don t go into this book if you really expect to learn something or encounter firm opinions from Chuck Klosterman except, of course, his wholly i...This was my first Klosterman book and my first nonfiction book in a minute as the kids say I really liked most of the book It s pretty abstract, there aren t any answers to the questions he s asking since we can t see into the future, but I enjoyed the discussion and trying to gaze into the crystal ball The premise of the book is trying to look at the present as if it were the past, basically putting ourselves into a time machine and looking back at our current times from a variety of angles This was my first Klosterman book and my first nonfiction book in a minute as the kids say I really liked most of the book It s pretty abstract, there aren t any answers to the questions he s asking since we can t see into the future, but I enjoyed the discussion and trying to gaze into the crystal ball The premise of the book is trying to look at the present as if it were the past, basically putting ourselves into a time machine and looking back at our current times from a variety of angles Each chap...In his latest book, Chuck Klosterman takes a look at the present as if it were the distant past, posing some interesting thought experiments what will people think of the early 21st century in 500 years time Will rock music still be popular and who will be remembered as the epitome of the genre Will team sports like football still be popular Who will be remembered as the most significant writer of this time Has science reached an impasse or are we about to discover a major new bountiful fi In his latest book, Chuck Klosterman takes a look at the present as if it were the distant past, posing some interesting thought experiments what will people think of the early 21st century in 500 years time Will r...I really want to give thisstars, I should have liked it but, ugh Yes, I m sure lots of the things we now believe about reality may one day be proven wrong, but so what How does that effect our lives Well, as the author states it doesn t because most people don t care The shepherd in 1500 A.D who was suddenly told the earth went around the sun and not vice versa, was shocked and then went back to his sheep We re just the same, centuries from now when we finally unlock the secrets of I really want to give thisstars, I should have liked it b...I don t always read non SF F but when I do, I like to make sure it s the kind of non fiction that makes me incredibly annoying at parties God, you should have seen me the year I read Malcolm Gladwell s Blink , I could hammer the thought candy from that book into any conversation about anything at all Gladwell s premise is that throughout history we have been completely wrong abouteverythingSO, what things that we accept as completely true now, will we look back on in 500 years and laugh a I don t always read non SF F but when I do, I like to make sure it s the kind of non fiction that makes me incredibly annoying at parties God, you should have seen me the year I read Malcolm Gladwell s Blink , I could hammer the thought candy from that book into any conversation about anything at all Gladwell s premis...This was a fun book I received an ARC in exchange for my review, and I have to say that I would strongly recommend this to anyone who loves to ask What if This is one of those books you just can t take seriously at all, but if you re willing to follow the author down the hypothetical scenario rabbit hole, it s quite amusing You will ponder who the next Kafka will be, whether the Beatles will still be historically important in the far future, whether there is another version of you or multi This was a fun book I received an ARC...Best thing I ve read this year.The premise is pretty simple Basically, Klosterman spends most of a booknot PROVING that we re wrong about just about everything, but asking questions that make us think, If I step outside myself for a second, I COULD be wrong You d be amazed the places he goes with this He starts with fucking gravity STARTS with Not proving that gravity is nonexistent as we experience it, but that it may be an emergent force, which is a force that results from other thing Best thing I ve read this year.The premise is pretty simple Basically, Klosterman spends most of a booknot PROVING that we re wrong about just about everything, but asking questions that make us think, If I step outside myself for a second, I COULD be wrong You d be amazed the places he ...

But What If Were Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past
  • English
  • 20 December 2018
  • Hardcover
  • 272 pages
  • 0399184120
  • Chuck Klosterman
  • But What If Were Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past