{"product_id":"9781612192017","title":"The Science Delusion: Asking the Big Questions in a Culture of Easy Answers","description":"One of our most brilliant social critics—author of the bestselling \u003ci\u003eThe Middle Mind\u003c\/i\u003e—presents  a scathing critique of the “delusions” of science alongside a rousing  defense of the tradition of Romanticism and the “big” questions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith  the rise of religion critics such as Richard Dawkins, and of  pseudo-science advocates such as Malcolm Gladwell and Jonah Lehrer,  you’re likely to become a subject of ridicule if you wonder “Why is  there something instead of nothing?” or “What is our purpose on earth?”  Instead, at universities around the world, and in the general cultural  milieu, we’re all being taught that science can resolve all questions  without the help of philosophy, politics, or the humanities. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn  short, the rich philosophical debates of the 19th century have been  nearly totally abandoned, argues critic Curtis White. An atheist  himself, White nonetheless calls this new turn “scientism”—and fears  what it will do to our culture if allowed to flourish without challenge.  In fact, in “scientism” White sees a new religion with many unexamined  assumptions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this brilliant multi-part critique, he aims at a  TED talk by a distinguished neuroscientist in which we are told that  human thought is merely the product of our “connectome,” a map of neural  connections in the brain that is yet to be fully understood. . . . He  whips a widely respected physicist who argues that our new understanding  of the origins of the universe obviates any philosophical inquiry . . .  and ends with a learned defense of the tradition of Romanticism, which  White believes our technology and science-obsessed world desperately  needs to rediscover. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt’s the only way, he argues, that we can see our world clearly. . . and change it.","brand":"Melville House Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47161875562736,"sku":"9781612192017","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781612192017_p0.jpg?v=1763848066","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781612192017","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}