But What If We’re Wrong?: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past by Chuck Klosterman (Epub)

Description

New York Times bestselling author 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?

Klosterman visualizes the contemporary world as it will appear to those who’ll perceive it as the distant past. Kinetically slingshotting through a broad spectrum of objective and subjective problems, But What If We’re Wrong? is built on interviews with a variety of creative thinkers—George Saunders, David Byrne, Jonathan Lethem, Kathryn Schulz, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Greene, Junot Díaz, 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.”

User’s Reviews

Review “Full of intelligence and insights, as the author gleefully turns ideas upside down to better understand them. . . . This book will become a popular book club selection because it makes readers think. Replete with lots of nifty, whimsical footnotes, this clever, speculative book challenges our beliefs with jocularity and perspicacity.” —Kirkus (starred review)“Klosterman conducts a series of intriguing thought experiments in this delightful new book . . . 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.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)“A spin class for the brain . . . Klosterman challenges readers to reexamine the stability of basic concepts, and in doing so broadens our perspectives . . . An engaging and entertaining workout for the mind led by one of today’s funniest and most thought-provoking writers.” —Library Journal (starred review)“Klosterman is a joy to hang out with: He relishes the contradictions he examines while making complex ideas comprehensible. In this new world, though, his voids of certainty aren’t just exhilarating, but ominous.” —Ryan Vlastelica, A.V. Club (Favorite Books of 2016)“But What If We’re Wrong? is a book about the big things we’re wrong about that don’t get discussed, just because everyone assumes they can never happen. That’s as true for culture as it is for science, and the uniquely intellectual and dexterous Klosterman dives in with verve. Bonus points for interviews with some fascinating—and stubborn—people in the process.” —Bloomberg Best Books of 2016, recommended by Ian Bremmer, President of Eurasia Group“Klosterman is outlining the ideology of a contrarian here and reminding us of the important role that revisionism plays in cultural writing. What matters is the way he thinks about thinking—and the way he makes you think about how you think. And, in the end, this is all that criticism can really hope to do.” —Sonny Bunch, The Washington Post“[Klosterman’s] most wide-ranging accomplishment to date . . . As inquisitive, thoughtful and dryly funny as ever, But What If We’re Wrong? . . . [is] crackling with the writer’s signature wit.” —Will Ashton, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “In But What If We’re Wrong? [Klosterman] takes on the really big picture . . . He ranges far and wide over the realm of known knowns and known unknowns.” —Brigitte Frase, Minneapolis Star Tribune “I have often wondered how the times I live in will be remembered once they turn into History. It never occurred to me to figure out how to write a book about it, though, which is one of the reasons why Chuck Klosterman is smarter than I am.” —Aimee Levitt, The Chicago Reader“Klosterman has proven himself an insightful and evolving philosopher for popular consumption . . . In his latest, But What If We’re Wrong?, Klosterman probes the very notions of existence and longevity, resulting perhaps in the most mind-expanding writing of his career.” —Max Kyburz, Gothamist “Chuck Klosterman is no time traveler, but he’s got a lot of ideas about how the future will shake out . . . in [But What If We’re Wrong?] he ponders the limits of humanity’s search for truth.” —Chris Weller, Tech Insider “Prolific pop-culture critic Chuck Klosterman tackles his most ambitious project yet in new book But What If We’re Wrong?, which combines research, personal reflections and interviews.” —Alexandra Cavallo, The Improper Bostonian“This book is brilliant and addictively readable. It’s also mandatory reading for anyone who loves history and for anyone who claims to have a capacity for forecasting. It’ll probably make them angry because it turns so many sacred assumptions upside down—but that’s what the future does. Klosterman’s writing style is direct, highly personal and robotically crisp—he’s like a stranger on the seat next to you on a plane who gives you a billion dollar idea. A terrific book.” —Douglas Coupland

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ Don’t take this in a wrong way, I have read everything Chuck Klosterman has ever written. At his best Klosterman is magic with words and wit. He excels at Rock music he understands it, he gets it, and his insight into that art form is 2nd to none. He also understands sports and his take on football in this book was per usual interesting.My background is in science and Klosterman dives headlong into that field. The chapters on gravity and the evolving field of quantum physics felt mildly forced and impersonal. The chapter on dinosaurs felt more personal and that evolving field has changed in my lifetime as well.The book goes off the rails once the writer enters the world of politics and American history. This is maybe a perceived forte but why? It felt like an off the cuff personal, but not researched take on a world he is not that well connected to. If he is connected to American politics or American historians I did not get where it all came from,That being said, anything Klosterman either knows really well like Rock or anything he has highly researched is well written.I plead to Chuck Klosterman to get back to your roots, write a big book on Rock, a really big book on Rock.

⭐ This short, thought-provoking book ranges widely from politics to music to physics but always returns to the main question of ‘what if we are wrong’.There are countless cases in history of widely-held beliefs about culture, philosophy and even the nature of the world being overturned almost overnight. Artists unknown in their time are celebrated today as unsung geniuses while the giants of those ages are forgotten. Which raises the question, what do we think, believe or know today that will be proven false tomorrow?It’s a good question and there isn’t necessarily an answer in here but that’s fine because it does make us think. I first learned of this book when one chapter was reprinted in a magazine. It asked the question 300 years from now, when rock and roll is as historical and irrelevant as, say, opera, who will historians hold up as the example of rock, who will be remembered?Now ask the same question about television.Or any other aspect of our lives.Are the Grammy, Emmy and Oscar winners really the most important works of art in the world today? If not, what is?Klosterman also asks the equally challenging question, what if we’re right? Yes people once believed the world was flat and were proven wrong. But that sort of scientific revolution has become rarer as we’ve shared more information and established methods, so what if this is it? What if our understanding of the world is it, and there are no more revolutions?Again he doesn’t have answers but there’s a lot to chew on here.Klosterman’s style is very friendly, he sprinkles in self-deprecating humor and personal anecdotes throughout which keeps this book from being too heavy. I found it a perfect read for a long plane trip.I recommend it.

⭐ I picked up this book at the Amazon store at University Village one day last fall. I hadn’t a clue what it was about, I just liked the title and the idea that a writer can be such a skeptic. The stories, which maybe read more like magazine articles, blog posts, or almost-essays than what I think they are intended to be: essays, and are about a lot of different subjects (music, TV, science, history, sports), each one with something that calls our typical thinking about it into question. After reading it through the first time, I handed it off to my also-skeptical teenage son, who chose it to give to one of his robotics team mentors. Having forgotten much of the book’s minutiae, which I suppose means it wasn’t that memorable, I recently read it again.Here are some things I liked about it (in no particular order):Skepticism!The idea that some things, Moby Dick for example, are overwhelmingly thought of by most as excellent, although they really may not be. I loved the Amazon review the author includes about Moby Dick. I tend to hate books that the general public loves and love the books they hate, so I appreciate this idea. He also mentions Tenth of December, a short story collection by Saunders, I tried to read it twice and gave up. Just saying.Seemingly crazy at the time predictions that came true.The idea that far into the future, our beliefs about something (say gravity) may turn out to be entirely wrong.The Dark NetThat we all might be part of a computer simulation.A discussion of arguments in favor (or not) of votingReality (or not) TVThe fact that football may become extinct (not that I mind football, the idea just seems very unlikely)In summary, I liked this book because it made me look at several ideas, concepts, and subjects differently, but I didn’t love it, maybe because the essays didn’t feel quite like what I’m used to…which should probably have made me like them even more. See, even what I believe doesn’t always make sense.

⭐ Not my favorite of the Klosterman books, and I’m a huge fan. At times it feels more like a documentary in book form, with Klosterman as the narrator. Now that CK is a fairly famous writer, a la Malcolm Gladwell (one of the “interviewees” here), he has access to a wide variety of intellectuals and he uses those to build his arguments around. I liked him better when he was follow the train of thought of his own idiosyncratic imagination, rather than asking Neil DeGrasse Tyson what he thinks. It’s provocative in a way that makes it fun reading, but the extensiveness, which approaches academic writing, is not Klosterman’s wheelhouse, I don’t think.

⭐ Engrossing collection of essays speculating about what humanity may consider differently in the future. Even if you disagree with specific conclusions, the subject of cultural blindspots is a fascinating one and it is discussed with wit and intelligence. As long as you don’t expect Klosterman to tie it all up with a bow at the end, you might enjoy this book. He’s way more interested in exploring what we don’t know than drawing any conclusions.

⭐ You know that album you think is the best ever made? Or that movie? Or basically any small part of the world you absolutely love? In 500 years [or less], it will be gone. Maybe just really hard to find even if you’re looking for it, but more likely washed away like words in the sand of the beach. Enjoy the things you love. You might be taking them with you when you go.

⭐ Meanders, but Klosterman does that on purpose. He’s like a non-fiction Vonnegut. How does he know so much about modern culture? Like it’s his job. Well, it’s his job. But still. He’s fun to read and I imagine when I disagree he wouldn’t be mad, he’d be like “yeah, if you are paying attention some of this must be disagreeable.” Made me think, not too hard.

⭐ I love this book. Like all Klosterman books it’s fun, nerdy, and chock full of pop culture references. This one has the added benefit of having a lot of interviews with scientists and sociologists outside of his normal range of expertise. My only letdown¹ is that there wasn’t a clear answer when he wrapped up his rambling thoughts. Spolier alert but at the end the conclusion of whether or not we’re wrong is probably but what exactly we’re wrong about is anyone’s guess. Still though, it was a great thought experiment and fun to read.————————————————————————————————————————————-¹ Honestly I don’t know what I thought he would say

⭐ For someone who has done a lot of reading and thinking, much of what the author says is kind of obvious. Still worth reading, though, and even more so if you have not already given these matters thought.

⭐ For Klosterman fans, this book doesn’t stray from the writing you’ve known for some time. Klosterman is the ultimate bar scene discussion companion you’ll actually never meet. Certain culture sections can drag, but you appreciate the insight into a breadth of topics. The book ends with you questioning all you’ve assumed to be true. You feel you’re better off because of that, but aren’t sure either. That’s (likely) the point.

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