2006 : WHAT IS YOUR DANGEROUS IDEA?

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2006 : WHAT IS YOUR DANGEROUS IDEA?

Science may be 'running out of control' Martin Rees Former President, The Royal Society; Emeritus Professor of...	Revealing the genetic basis of personality and behavior will create societal conflicts J. Craig Venter A leading scientist of the 21st century for Genomic...
A 24-hour period of absolute solitude Leo M. Chalupa Neurobiologist; Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology,...	Francis Crick's Vilayanur Ramachandran Neuroscientist; Professor & Director, Center for Brain...
The Evolution of Evil David M. Buss Professor of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin;...	Government is the problem not the solution Matt Ridley Science Writer; Fellow, Royal Society of Literature and the...
Dark Energy might not exist Philip W. Anderson Nobel Laureate; Physicist	Suppose Faulkner was right? Joel Garreau Principal, The Garreau Group
There are no souls Paul Bloom Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor of Psychology and...	Most bell curves have thick tails Bart Kosko Information Scientist and Professor of Electrical...
What We Know May Not Change Us Barry C. Smith Professor & Director, Institute of Philosophy School of...	If patterns of human love subtlely change, all sorts of social and political atrocities can escalate Helen Fisher Biological Anthropologist, Rutgers University; Author, Why...
Scientists and governments developing public engagement about science and technology are missing the point Philip Campbell Editor-in-Chief of Nature since 1995; Beginning summer 2018...	Using Medications To Change Personality Samuel Barondes Professor of Neurobiology and Psychiatry, UCSF; Author,...
Media Violence Induces Imitative Violence: The Problem With Super Mirrors Marco Iacoboni Neuroscientist; Professor of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral...	The fight against global warming is lost Paul Davies Theoretical physicist; cosmologist; astro-biologist; co-...
Science will never silence God Jesse Bering Psychologist; Associate Professor, Centre for Science...	The hyper-Islamicist critique of the West as a decadent force that is already on a downhill course might be true David Bodanis Writer; Futurist; Author, Einstein's Greatest Mistake
Think outside the Kyoto box Gregory Benford Emeritus Professor of Physics and Astronomy, UC-Irvine;...	The exact effect of art can't be controlled or fully anticipated April Gornik Visual Artists
A New Golden Age of Medicine Paul W. Ewald Professor of Biology, Amherst College; Author, Plague Time	It is undesirable to believe in a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true Nicholas Humphrey Emeritus Professor of Psychology, London School of...
Unspeakable Ideas Randolph Nesse Research Professor of Life Sciences, Director (2014-2019),...	Education as we know it does not accomplish what we believe it does Jamshed Bharucha Psychologist; President Emeritus, Cooper Union
Our planet is not in peril Oliver Morton Chief News and Features Editor	The unknown becomes known, and is not replaced with a new unkown Eric Fischl Visual Artists
Hodgepodge Morality David Pizarro Associate Professor of Psychology, Cornell University	The human brain is a cultural artefact. Timothy Taylor Jan Eisner Professor of Archaeology, Comenius University in...
Touching and pushing the limits of the human brain Stanislas Dehaene Neuroscientist; Collège de France, Paris; Author, How We...	The Forbidden Fruit Intuition Thomas Metzinger Professor of Theoretical Philosophy, Johannes Gutenberg-...
Technology can untie the U.S. Juan Enriquez Managing Director, Excel Venture Management; Co-author (...	There aren't enough minds to house the population explosion of memes Daniel C. Dennett Philosopher; Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, Co...
What the physics of the 20th century says about the world might in fact be true Carlo Rovelli Theoretical Physicist; Aix-Marseille University, in the...	Choosing the sex of one's child Diane F. Halpern Professor, Claremont McKenna College; Past-president,...
A Science of the Divine? Stephen M. Kosslyn Founding Dean, Minerva Schools at the Keck Graduate...	The world may fundamentally be inexplicable Lawrence M. Krauss Theoretical Physicist; Foundation Professor, School of...
Let's all stop beating Basil's car Richard Dawkins Evolutionary Biologist; Emeritus Professor of the Public...	Minds, genes, and machines Gary Marcus Professor of Psychology, Director NYU Center for Language...
Many behaviors of modern humans were genetically hard-wired (or soft-wired) in our distant ancestors by natural selection Jerry A. Coyne Professor Emeritus, Department of Ecology and Evolution,...	Existence is Non-Time, Non-Sequential, and Non-Objective Michael Nesmith Existence is Non-Time, Non-Sequential, and Non-Objective
When will the Internet become aware of itself? Terrence J. Sejnowski Computational Neuroscientist; Francis Crick Professor, the...	Homuncular Flexibility Jaron Lanier Computer Scientist; Musician; Author, Who Owns The Future?
My belief in science Ernst Pöppel Head of Research Group Systems, Neuroscience and Cognitive...	The Greatest Story Ever Told Carolyn Porco Planetary Scientist; Cassini Imaging Team Leader; Director...
After several generations of living in the computer culture, simulation will become fully naturalized. Authenticity in the traditional sense loses its value, a vestige of another time. Sherry Turkle Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of...	The idea that we should all share our most dangerous ideas W. Daniel Hillis Physicist, Computer Scientist, Co-Founder, Applied...
Runaway consumerism explains the Fermi Paradox Geoffrey Miller Evolutionary psychologist, NYU Stern Business School and...	The genetic breakthrough that made people capable of ideas themselves Seth Lloyd Professor of Quantum Mechanical Engineering, MIT; Author,...
The quick-thinking zombies inside us Andy Clark Professor of Cognitive Philosophy, Department of Philosophy...	Democratizing access to the means of invention Neil Gershenfeld Physicist, Director, MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms;...
We shall understand the origin of life within the next 5 years Robert Shapiro Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Senior Research...	Bacteria are us Lynn Margulis Biologist
Science as just another Religion Jordan Pollack Professor and Chairman of Computer Science, Brandeis...	The idea that ideas can be dangerous Daniel Gilbert Professor of Psychology at Harvard University
Anty Gravity: Chaos Theory in an all too practical sense Kai Krause Software Pioneer; Philosopher; Author, A Realtime...	A political system based on empathy Simon Baron-Cohen Professor of Developmental Psychopathology, University of...
Myths and fairy tales are not true Todd E. Feinberg M.D. is Associate Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at...	Social Relativity Tor Nørretranders Writer; Speaker; Thinker, Copenhagen, Denmark
Science Must Destroy Religion Sam Harris Neuroscientist; Philosopher; Author, Making Sense	Using science to get to the next and perhaps last frontier Mahzarin Banaji Department Chair; Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social...
Biotechnology will be thoroughly domesticated in the next fifty years Freeman Dyson Physicist, Institute of Advanced Study; Author, Disturbing...	What if public policy makers have an obligation to engage historians, and historians have an obligation to try to help? Stewart Brand Founder, the Whole Earth Catalog; Co-founder, The Well; Co-...
The human brain and its products are incapable of understanding the truths about the universe Karl Sabbagh Producer; Founder, Managing Director, Skyscraper...	Science encourages religion in the long run (and vice versa) Scott Atran Anthropologist; Emeritus Research Director, Centre National...
What are people well-informed about in the Information Age? David Gelernter Computer Scientist, Yale University; Chief Scientist,...	The evidence that tribal peoples often damage their environments and make war. Jared Diamond Professor of Geography, University of California Los...
Seeing Darwin in the light of Einstein; seeing Einstein in the light of Darwin Lee Smolin Physicist, Perimeter Institute; Author, Einstein's...	Can science explain itself? Marcelo Gleiser Appleton Professor of Natural Philosophy, Dartmouth College...
The Multiverse Brian Greene Co-founder of the World Science Festival and Chairman,...	The Leonard Susskind Felix Bloch Professor in Theoretical Physics, Stanford;...
A cacophony of Alison Gopnik Psychologist, UC, Berkeley; Author, The Gardener and the...	Open Source Currency Douglas Rushkoff Media Analyst; Documentary Writer; Author, Throwing Rocks...
Cyber-disinhibition Daniel Goleman Psychologist; Author (with Richard Davidson), Altered Traits	The medicination of the ancient yearning for immortality Gerald Holton Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and Professor of the...
More anonymity is good Kevin Kelly Senior Maverick, Wired; Author, What Technology Wants and...	The idea of zero parental influence Judith Rich Harris Independent Investigator and Theoretician; Author, The...
Free will is exercised unconsciously, without awareness Eric R. Kandel Recipient, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2002;...	Nothing Charles Seife Professor of Journalism, New York University; Former...
A Denis Dutton Philosopher; Founder and Editor, Arts & Letters Daily;...	Brains cannot become minds without bodies Alun Anderson Senior Consultant (and former Editor-in-Chief and...
We Have No Souls John Horgan Director, Center for Science Writings, Stevens Institute of...	It's a matter of time Paul J. Steinhardt Albert Einstein Professor in Science, Departments of...
Being alone in the universe Rodney A. Brooks Panasonic Professor of Robotics (emeritus); Former Director...	Culture is natural Dan Sperber Social and Cognitive Scientist; CEU Budapest and CNRS Paris...
Telling More Than We Can Know Richard Nisbett Theodore M. Newcomb Distinguished University Professor of...	The self is a conceptual chimera John Allen Paulos professor of mathematics at Temple University
The purpose of life is to disperse energy Scott Sampson President & CEO, Science World British Columbia;...	Where goods cross frontiers, armies won't Michael Shermer Publisher, Skeptic magazine; Monthly Columnist, Scientific...
Relativism Martin Seligman Professor and Director, Positive Psychology Center,...	This is all there is Robert Provine Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland, Baltimore...
Marx was right: the James J. O'Donnell Classics Scholar, University Librarian, ASU; Author, Pagans	The idea that we understand plutonium Jeremy Bernstein Professor Emeritus, Stevens Institute of Technology; Former...
No More Teacher's Dirty Looks Roger Schank CEO, Socratic Arts Inc.; John Evans Professor Emeritus of...	There is something new under the sun â€” us Gregory Cochran Consultant; Adaptive Optics and Adjunct Professor of...
Following Sisyphus, not Pandora Howard Gardner Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education, Harvard...	A spoon is like a headache Donald D. Hoffman Cognitive Scientist, UC, Irvine; Author, The Case Against...
The banality of evil is matched by the banality of heroism Philip Zimbardo Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Stanford University;...	The free market Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Psychologist; Director, Quality of Life Research Center,...
Modern science is a product of biology Arnold Trehub Psychologist, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Author...	There is something new under the sun â€” us Gregory Paul Independent Researcher; Author, The Princeton Field Guide...
The near-term inevitability of radical life extension and expansion Ray Kurzweil Principal Developer of the first omni-font optical...	Radicalized relativity Richard Foreman Playwright & Director; Founder, The Ontological-...
The differences between humans and nonhumans are quantitative, not qualitative Irene Pepperberg Research Associate & Lecturer, Harvard; Author, Alex...	Everything is pointless Susan Blackmore Psychologist; Visiting Professor, University of Plymouth;...
Understanding molecular biology without discovering the origins of life George Dyson Science Historian; Author, Analogia	Democracy may be on its way out Haim Harari Physicist, former President, Weizmann Institute of Science...
Emotional intelligence John Gottman Psychologist; Co-founder, The Gottman Relationship...	Fields of Danger Brian Goodwin Professor of Biology at Schumacher College
Laws requiring parental licensure David Lykken Behavioral Geneticist and Emeritus Professor, University of...	We are entirely alone Keith Devlin Mathematician; Executive Director, H-STAR Institute,...
A marriage option for all David G. Myers Professor of Psychology, Hope College; Co-author,...	A radical reevaluation of the character of time Piet Hut professor of astrophysics at the Institute for Advanced...
Mind is a universally distributed quality Rudy Rucker Mathematician; Computer Scientist; Cyberpunk Pioneer;...	We are all virtual Clifford Pickover Author, The Math Book, The Physics Book, and The Medical...
Why I Hope the Standard Model is Wrong about Why There is More Matter Than Antimatter Frank Tipler Professor of Mathematical Physics, Tulane University;...	Free will is going away. Time to redesign society to take that into account. Clay Shirky Social & Technology Network Topology Researcher;...