But What If We're Wrong?
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- £12.99
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- £12.99
Publisher Description
This has always been the case, no matter how often that certainty has failed. Though no generation believes thereís 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 more irrefutable and secure ñ until, of course, they donít.??But What If Weíre Wrong? visualizes the contemporary world as it will appear to those whoíll 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 ñ weirder still ñ widely known, but entirely disrespected)? Is it possible that we ëoverrateí democracy? And perhaps most disturbing, is it possible that weíve reached the end of knowledge???Kinetically slingshotting through a broad spectrum of objective and subjective problems, But What If Weíre Wrong? is built on interviews with a variety of creative thinkers ñ George Saunders, David Byrne, Jonathan Lethem, Kathryn Schulz, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Greene, Junot DÌaz, Amanda Petrusich, Ryan Adams, Nick Bostrom, Dan Carlin, and Richard Linklater, among others ñ interwoven with the type of high-wire humor and nontraditional analysis only Klosterman would dare to attempt. Itís a seemingly impossible achievement: a book about the things we cannot know, explained as if we did. Itís about how we live now, once ënowí has become ëthení.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Klosterman (I Wear the Black Hat) conducts a series of intriguing thought experiments in this delightful new book about how we conceive of the future. He begins with a conundrum virtually all writers contemplate at some point: why do some writers achieve literary immortality while others are totally forgotten? From there, he works through similar questions with respect to rock music and then shifts to wondering which of our established scientific principles might be replaced in the centuries to come. This is pop philosophy, but Klosterman takes it seriously enough to bring in heavyweight experts such as Neil deGrasse Tyson and George Saunders. Klosterman also considers the long-term viability of the NFL and team sports in general. He asks, supposing that the ancient Egyptians had TV, which of their TV shows would interest us most the Egyptian Breaking Bad? He argues that we'd want the most realistic portrait of society possible, and that level of realism is only achieved unintentionally. As usual, Klosterman's trademark humor and unique curiosity propel the reader through the book. He remains one of the most insightful critics of pop culture writing today and this is his most thought-provoking and memorable book yet.
