[PDF] Optimism And Skepticism eBook

Author : Nicholas Agar
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 190 pages
File Size : 17,87 MB
Release : 2015-07-09
Category : Science
ISBN : 019102662X

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The rapid developments in technologies -- especially computing and the advent of many 'smart' devices, as well as rapid and perpetual communication via the Internet -- has led to a frequently voiced view which Nicholas Agar describes as 'radical optimism'. Radical optimists claim that accelerating technical progress will soon end poverty, disease, and ignorance, and improve our happiness and well-being. Agar disputes the claim that technological progress will automatically produce great improvements in subjective well-being. He argues that radical optimism 'assigns to technological progress an undeserved pre-eminence among all the goals pursued by our civilization'. Instead, Agar uses the most recent psychological studies about human perceptions of well-being to create a realistic model of the impact technology will have. Although he accepts that technological advance does produce benefits, he insists that these are significantly less than those proposed by the radical optimists, and aspects of such progress can also pose a threat to values such as social justice and our relationship with nature, while problems such as poverty cannot be understood in technological terms. He concludes by arguing that a more realistic assessment of the benefits that technological advance can bring will allow us to better manage its risks in future.

Author : Nicholas Agar
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 222 pages
File Size : 10,44 MB
Release : 2015
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0198717059

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In The Paradox of Progress, Nicholas Agar challenges the central claims of 'radical optimism': that technological progress will automatically make us happier and healthier. Using recent psychological studies about human well-being, he instead presents a more realistic approach to understand the positive and negative issues that progress brings.

Author : Jerrold Lee Shapiro Ph.D.
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
Page : 547 pages
File Size : 15,67 MB
Release : 2021-12-07
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1669802558

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How does a kid from the streets of the Boston Ghetto end up spending his adult life in Hawaii and Northern California? This memoir was written for two reasons. The first and most important is to be better known by my children and grandchildren. The nature of my early life would seem inexplicable today. Not only are the years gone to the dustbin of history, but so is the neighborhood and lifestyle. Thus, it is also an attempt to comprehend better the trials, tribulations, missteps, great moments, and victories (large and small), as I approach my 9th decade of life. Throughout the book, I try to be transparent, while exploring motives and reasons for my becoming a transplant, far from my roots. I try to explore my journey primarily through the lens of several crucial junctures and transforming choices.

Author : Elizabeth Shaw
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 247 pages
File Size : 18,34 MB
Release : 2019-08-29
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 1108661262

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'Free will skepticism' refers to a family of views that all take seriously the possibility that human beings lack the control in action - i.e. the free will - required for an agent to be truly deserving of blame and praise, punishment and reward. Critics fear that adopting this view would have harmful consequences for our interpersonal relationships, society, morality, meaning, and laws. Optimistic free will skeptics, on the other hand, respond by arguing that life without free will and so-called basic desert moral responsibility would not be harmful in these ways, and might even be beneficial. This collection addresses the practical implications of free will skepticism for law and society. It contains eleven original essays that provide alternatives to retributive punishment, explore what (if any) changes are needed for the criminal justice system, and ask whether we should be optimistic or pessimistic about the real-world implications of free will skepticism.

Author : Richard Gordon
Publisher :
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 32,67 MB
Release : 2024-03-25
Category : Political Science
ISBN :

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I am, an eighty-six-year-old Black Man, explaining why he is somewhat optimistic about racial harmony in America... These Essays are about "The Beauty and Necessity of Generational Perspective in understanding social growth...AND The Passing of the "Indignation Torch"... The heart of this book is two personal essays on race relations in America, written thirty years apart... Both essays approach the subject from a hopeful and optimistic point of view. And Most Importantly it is About Why MY hope and optimism IS NOT TOTALLY EMBRACED by My Children and Grandchildren! I see a world where the beauty in others does not diminishes your own... In fact, it enhances the beauty of all. I must believe this BECAUSE... The alternative is too horrible to contemplate... AND not good for anyone!

Author : John Brockman
Publisher : Harper Collins
Page : 495 pages
File Size : 13,71 MB
Release : 2009-10-13
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN : 006187003X

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The nightly news and conventional wisdom tell us that things are bad and getting worse. Yet despite dire predictions, scientists see many good things on the horizon. John Brockman, publisher of Edge (www.edge.org), the influential online salon, recently asked more than 150 high-powered scientific thinkers to answer a vital question for our frequently pessimistic times: "What are you optimistic about?" Spanning a wide range of topics—from string theory to education, from population growth to medicine, and even from global warming to the end of world—What Are You Optimistic About? is an impressive array of what world-class minds (including Nobel Laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, New York Times bestselling authors, and Harvard professors, among others) have weighed in to offer carefully considered optimistic visions of tomorrow. Their provocative and controversial ideas may rouse skepticism, but they might possibly change our perceptions of humanity's future.