But What If We're Wrong? (25 page)

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Aaronovitch, David,
133
–34

abuse as motivation,
188
–90

AC/DC,
83
n

Adams, Ryan,
72
–73,
74
,
86
–87

Adams, Zed,
148
–50

Adler, Renata,
235

After Birth
(Albert),
50

age of the universe,
112

Albert, Elisa,
50

“Albums of the Year” list (
SPIN
),
92
n

Allman, Gregg,
85
n

alternative universe.
See
multiverse hypothesis

America's Game
(MacCambridge),
181

analytics, sports,
250
–52

“ancillary verisimilitude” of TV,
163
–65

animals

intelligence of,
256
–57

personification of,
255
–56

Anna Karenina
(Tolstoy),
56

Aphex Twin,
38
n

architecture,
90
–92

Aristotle,
5
,
99
,
100
,
101
,
106
,
111
,
149
,
225

Arkani-Hamed, Nima,
130
–31

Armstrong, Louis,
77

art

appreciation, changing nature of,
70
,
243

“good job” response to,
188
–89

shared selectively,
37
–38

transgressive,
79
–80

artificial intelligence,
124
,
227
–29

assumptions, flawed,
93
–94,
185
–86

Austen, Jane,
45

author's background,
195
–97

Avengers: Age of Ultron
(film),
227

Axis: Bold as Love
(album),
60

Bach, Johann Sebastian,
72

Bachelor, The
(TV show),
170

Bailey, F. Lee,
14

Ballers
(TV show),
170

Bandwagonesque
(album),
92
n

Barr, Roseanne,
174
–75

Barrett, Deirdre,
138
n

Barry, Dave,
233
,
234
n

Bartlett, Jamie,
37

bat, imagining being a,
254

Baudrillard, Jean,
28

Baxter, Les,
78

Beach, The
(Garland),
53

Beatles,
60
,
66
–68,
75
,
84
,
161

Bee Gees,
79
–80

Beethoven, Ludwig van,
72

being wrong

author's experiences,
1
–2,
237
–38

collective conscious,
2
,
239

about the future,
252
–53

major shifts in beliefs before 1600,
3
–7,
98
–102

socially detrimental effects of,
239

Being Wrong
(Schulz),
10
–11

bell curve.
See
Gaussian curve

Bellamy, Matt,
63
–64

Benét, Stephen Vincent,
93

Beowulf
,
45

Berlin, Isaiah,
200

Berry, Chuck,
79
,
84
–86

bias, cultural,
25
–27

Bigelow, Kathryn,
152

Bill of Rights,
209
–12

bin Laden, Osama,
151
–53

Blair, Jayson,
154
n

Blake, William,
32

blogging,
231
–32

Blue Velvet
(film),
166

blues music,
81

Boccherini, Luigi,
73

Bonaparte, Napoleon,
58
,
156

Book of Lists, The
(Wallechinsky, Wallace, and Wallace),
13

Book of Predictions,
The
(Wallechinsky, Wallace, and Wallace),
13
–15

books

Civil War literature,
22
,
155

commercial success of,
27
–28

diversity of authors,
25
–27

evaluating writers,
22
–28,
30
–39

extinction of,
19
–20

films based on,
53

finding deeper themes of,
47
–48

literary canon,
32
–33,
47
–48

plot vs. tone,
21
–22

Borland, Chris,
179
–80

Bostrom, Nick,
121
–23,
129

Boswell Sisters,
59

bowl games (college football),
192
–93

boxing,
187

Boyhood
(film),
140

Bridges to Babylon
(album),
82

Brod, Max,
35
,
38

Brody, Richard,
189

Bryant, Kobe,
188

Buchanan, Pat,
246
–48

Burns, Ken,
155

Bush, George W.,
197
–98

Byrne, David,
68
–70

Campbell, Joseph,
74

“Canon Fodder” (
GQ
column),
242
–45

Carey, John,
70

Carlin, Dan,
201
–5,
215

Carlin, Lynn,
201

Caro, Robert,
51

Carter, Amy,
79

Catastrophe
(TV show),
167

Catholic Church,
117
–18,
134

ceilings in movies, visibility of,
244

certainty,
6
–7,
10

changes in the world, dealing with,
248

Chicago Daily Tribune
,
232
n

children's involvement in sports,
190
–91

Chronicles
(Dylan),
230

Citizen Kane
(film),
90
,
244

Citizenfour
(film),
236

Civil War, US

causes,
233
–34

literature,
22
,
155

Civil War, The
(film),
155

classical music,
72
,
73

climate change

disagreement about,
239
–41

future consequences of,
240

no middle-of-the-road position on,
240
–41

“clutch” scenarios in sports,
250
n

Coates, Ta-Nehisi,
52

Cobain, Kurt,
92
n

collective conscious,
2

Colophon, The
,
92
–93

color

The Dress (viral phenomenon),
146
–47

Homer's description of Aegean Sea,
147
–48

light, influence of,
149

shiny/matte distinction,
148

subjective nature of,
147
–50

commercial success,
27
–30,
56
,
77

communication methods,
15
–16

consensus, scientific,
112
–13

conspiracy theories,
133
–34,
145

Constitution, US,
207
–12,
220
–21

consumer reviews,
7
–8

Contemporary Kafka,
35
–39,
41
–43

content, too much,
10
,
33

Cooper, Alice,
144

Cooper, Dennis,
54
n

Copernicus, Nicolaus,
99
,
116
,
117

Corrections, The
(Franzen),
57

Cosby Show, The
(TV show),
174

cosmic rays,
125
n

cosmological constant,
130

criticism,
7
–8,
10
,
78

Crosby, Bing,
77

Dark Net, The
(Bartlett),
37

Davydov, Denis,
156

Declaration of Independence,
212
–13

Deep Web,
37
–39

“Deflategate” scandal,
41

democracy,
215
–16,
219

Descartes, René,
137
,
149
–50

“Dewey Defeats Truman” headline,
232
n

Díaz, Junot,
25
–27,
39

Dick, Philip K.,
31

dictatorships,
215

dimethyltryptamine (DMT),
141
–42

dinosaurs,
97
–98

disco music,
79
–80

disrespect for past classic works,
243
–45

Do Not Sell at Any Price
(Petrusich),
81

Domino, Fats,
79

“Don't Stop Believin'” (song),
71

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
(Stevenson),
143
–44

dreaming

content of dreams,
142
–43

dimethyltryptamine (DMT),
141
–42

“Dream Argument,”
137
n

lucid,
137
,
141

meaningless nature of,
138
–39

and near-death experiences,
141
–42

Dress, The (viral phenomenon),
146
–47

dying and sleep, relationship between,
141
–42

Dylan, Bob,
74
–77,
86
–87,
230

Earth, location in Milky Way,
120

earthquakes,
258
–60

echolocation sonar,
254

Ed Sullivan Show, The
,
60
,
66

Egan, Jennifer,
52

Eggers, Dave,
52

Ehrlich, Paul,
14

Einstein, Albert,
4
,
112
,
114

elections, US

Ohio's importance in,
196
–97

political polarization since 9/11,
198
–99

presidential race of 2000,
197
–98,
216

See also
voting

electronic dance music (EDM),
79

EmDrive rocket thruster,
119
–20

Empire
(TV show),
170

“End of History?, The” (Fukuyama),
226
–27

End of Science, The
(Horgan),
223
–24,
226

End of War, The
(Horgan),
226
–27

Entourage
(TV show),
170

equality,
212
–14

Esquire
,
246

E.T.
(film),
182

“Ethicist, The” (
New York Times Magazine
column),
255

Everest, Mount,
183

extraterrestrials, music for,
83
–84

fact-checking,
154
n

false memories,
150
–51

Fight Club
(Palahniuk),
53

film industry,
28
–30,
90
,
227
,
243
–45

financial crisis of 2008,
41

First Amendment rights,
211
–12

flawed assumptions,
93
–94,
185
–86

fleeting popularity,
23
–24

Foer, Jonathan Safran,
47

Fomenko, Anatoly,
135

football

college level,
191
–93

comparative risks in other sports,
183

dangerous nature of,
179
–80,
185

future of,
178
–82

hypothetical scenario of its decline,
180

National Football League (NFL),
180
–81,
182
–83

safety modifications envisioned,
181

silo analogy,
184
–85

forces

fundamental vs. emergent,
4

gravity,
3
–7

Fourteenth Amendment rights,
220

fox vs. hedgehog,
199
–201

Franzen, Jonathan,
27
,
36
,
261

free speech, limitations to,
211
–12

Freed, Alan,
59

freedom,
214

Freud, Sigmund,
138

Frost, Robert,
93

Fukuyama, Francis,
226
–27

future, thinking about,
252
–53

Galileo,
5
,
100
,
117
–18

Gaussian curve,
22
n

Gazzaniga, Michael,
203
n

Gehry, Frank,
90

genius, recognizing,
23
–24,
73

Gibbon, Edward,
207

Gillett, Charlie,
14

Gioia, Ted,
77
–79

Gladwell, Malcolm,
177
–79,
181

Glass, Stephen,
154
n

global politics,
15
,
17