But What If We’re Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past
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Chuck Klosterman’s But What If We’re Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past is full of good “beer conversations” aka conversations that don’t necessarily lead to anywhere super productive, but they’re still fun to have. He maps out a bunch of thought-provoking hypotheticals, all revolving around the premise that we’re probably wrong about a buttload of things.
Think about all of the things we’ve been collectively wrong about in the past. This leads to some questions about our current “certainties”. Take gravity for example. Mankind was wrong about gravity for 2,000 years, so why do we automatically assume that Newton’s conception of gravity will exist forever? Or, if he totally solved the problem and it’s applicable in all aspects of the universe, have we reached the very end of that intellectual quest? Do we know all there is to know? What are the philosophical implications of that? Instead of saying, “Gravity exists,” should we say, “I’m 99.9% certain that gravity exists”?
Klosterman also talks about what will be remembered in the future (focusing on books, TV, and music), and whether or not those remembrances will accurately portray our current lives. He gets all heady and fun with it, kicking around a bunch of ideas but also offering some interesting facts. Like the fact that Moby-Dick was wildly unpopular at its time of publication and actually tanked Melville’s career; yet, we retrospectively think of it as canonical American literature. What weird, publicly scorned current stuff might be elevated in the future (and why)?
Then, he gets into bigger stuff– like the multiverse, living in a simulation, the Singularity, etc. Then, he has a whole chapter on the future of football.
So, he is all over the place and sort of shockingly disorganized for a New York Times bestseller. But I didn’t mind that much. Sure, you have to sit back and integrate the big picture for yourself, but he offers brilliant thought experiments and I enjoyed going on those intellectual journeys with him. He talks in a casual tone, and he seems like a genuine, funny guy– also evidenced by the fact that he name-drops a ton of cool people throughout and he generally seems like a dude that people like.
We don’t know what we don’t know and we’re probably not even asking the right kinds of questions. Like Klosterman, this fills me with humility and wonder, and it’s worth thinking about even if your book ends up being a little rambly. Overall, But What If We’re Wrong? receives 4 out of 5 flames.
