The Crime of Reason: And the Closing of the Scientific Mind 1st Edition by Robert B Laughlin (PDF)

Description

We all agree that the free flow of ideas is essential to creativity. And we like to believe that in our modern, technological world, information is more freely available and flows faster than ever before. But according to Nobel Laureate Robert Laughlin, acquiring information is becoming a danger or even a crime. Increasingly, the really valuable information is private property or a state secret, with the result that it is now easy for a flash of insight, entirely innocently, to infringe a patent or threaten national security. The public pays little attention because this vital information is “technical” — but, Laughlin argues, information is often labeled technical so it can be sequestered, not sequestered because it’s technical. The increasing restrictions on information in such fields as cryptography, biotechnology, and computer software design are creating a new Dark Age: a time characterized not by light and truth but by disinformation and ignorance. Thus we find ourselves dealing more and more with the Crime of Reason, the antisocial and sometimes outright illegal nature of certain intellectual activities.The Crime of Reason is a reader-friendly jeremiad, On Bullshit for the Slashdot and Creative Commons crowd: a short, fiercely argued essay on a problem of increasing concern to people at the frontiers of new ideas.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This is the second fascinating Laughlin book I’ve read, and the author continues to deliver insights. I find that parts of the books are so good I’ll have to read them twice because the degree of knowledge he compresses into a few paragraphs is amazing, for example, in the opening pages of this book. I can also give my highest recommendation to his book “A Different Universe”.By looking at legal or economic forces that limit intellectual debate the author raises a topic which many hoped had receded into history. As a student of the philosophy of science I read about how Galileo and Renaissance scientists encountered persecution. Another scientist, Descartes, emigrated to Holland to find intellectual freedom and went on to discover knowledge at the foundations of modern science. While Descartes is often called a French philosopher, his most important writing and math was done in the city of Leiden, The Netherlands.In “The Crime of Reason” the author is accurate in describing contemporary problems for intellectual freedom, but the solutions he proposes seem to be only partial solutions. He has clear ideas for reforming patent law but, as he writes, the laws are becoming more entrenched with time. Several topics he raises about genes being products of Nature and not technology are central to the Green movement, especially on the ownership of crop seeds and genetically altered crops. However, on nuclear energy he seems to over-emphasize censorship for national security reasons and overlooked funding cuts. In the US, reduced funding at the DOE rather than public censorship is the main reason which progress on Generation IV nuclear power stations is slower than it should be (in fairness, the book was written before the 2010’s period of budget sequestration for “discretionary” domestic spending in the U.S.).More generally, I appreciate the wide range of topics in this book and the fact that the author looks carefully at economic influences in science, just as he focused on economic forces in the energy debate in “Powering the Future.” In “Crime of Reason” he writes that public debates about resource allocation and government budgets are “intractable,” as if they are fundamentally and permanently intractable, in comparison to many debates in physics or science. Then again, the high-level thought (Nobel Laureate – level rationality) he brings to patent law, IP, and energy discussions will help to improve the debates make them less intractable. In that way, Laughlin writes in the best tradition of science, which seeks open debate and improvement of knowledge, even when taking on seeming impossible or intractable problems.

⭐I know Robert Laughlin from my free study of a lot of his works and also through his popular science writing. This book while written to address a growing problem of monopolizing scientific discoveries toward economic incentives is not an easy read/or to swallow if the reader fails to have the overview as it is argued in this book.Robert is a distinguished applied physicists and is well aware of the fuzzy lines between what’s in one’s head and what’s out there; he has written at times on delicacies between confusing realms of theories vs experiment and in my view this is where his views in this book tie into the complex web of society, survival and progression of science.In my view the problem is like the analogy of fish in water; while science by nature is open to free inquiries of all sorts without any hint of repercussions of its discoveries nevertheless these scientific inquiries are made by people who live in and depend on societies that their rules transcend the ideal goals of curious investigations, that’s where economic reasoning can at times contain or threaten the spirit of free scientific minds but again these inquiries are driven by engines of economic progress that were set in place to direct these minds. This sounds like a circular argument but may also be described as a non-dual nature of science and society, they are co-dependent.In my view Robert Laughlin is daring enough of a distinguished scientist to speak freely for a system, suffering from internal inconsistencies ie promote free thinking and speech but also apply restriction to certain manners of thinking!The kinds of thinking proposed in this book is like the common challenge for an engineer to think scientifically or for a scientist to see things through the eyes of an engineer; both instances seem to involve pains for each other and digression from focus area but are of the same nature. I would say our societies tend to evolve in unpredictable ways to get beyond the type of current contradictions between allowing free scientific thinking/pursuits without running into risks of infringing on someone’s (economic) interests. That’s my hope.Alireza

⭐It is very difficult to read this book. A logical book must initially state the conclusions, followed by arguments and evidence, and then a summary. The front jacket states “and the closing of the scientific mind.” Although he raises issues, I did not see any clear evidence in his book of his main thesis. Sadly, however, I do see clear evidence in society of the closing of the scientific mind. University professors are derelict in their responsibilities to pass on correct rational reasoning to their students.Here are examples. People talk about how it would be to enter a black hole. This is nonsense, as it takes forever to reach the event horizon. Some scientists say the climate is warming up due to human activity, and bring evidence from past years while ignoring evidence from past centuries and millennia. More such examples are in

⭐. Rational thinking starts with clearly stated principles, continues with logical deductions, and then examines empirical evidence to possibly modify the principles. Current talk about the need to raise taxes in order to make America more prosperous is an example of ignoring evidence, yet professors do not challenge this false view.We should expect more from brilliant professors like Professor Laughlin. This subject is an important subject, and we need to think about it. This is why I gave it 3 stars.

⭐I tend to agree with another reviewer that this subject is barely big enough for a book. However, the subject is important, well covered, and the book well written. The author gives good reasons for the legitimately conflicting interests when it comes to information management. However, I wish he would present more suggested solutions.

⭐Written by a Nobel Prize winner, able more than most to see what’s in front of them and think about what it means experiencing colleagues who look away, and who demonise those who won’t. Simultaneously edifying, and exemplifying the biggest threat that we face: The demand that only the orthodox can be allowed into academy or media and that the heterodox is by definition dangerous and therefore wrong.

⭐Very satisfied. Thank you!

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