On Our Minds in 2017: Thought Experiments
As we at To the Best of Our Knowledge start off a new year, we wanted to talk about some of the books, movies, music, games and other media that we think might play a role in shaping the ideas that find their way onto the show in 2017. Since that list was massive, we’ve chopped it up into a few core themes that emerged from our collective media diet.
For the first in our series, we consider thought experiments: counterfactual scenarios, speculative thinking and bizarre “what-ifs.” Hypotheses that captivated us this year ranged from futuristic sci-fi to heartbreaking memoir. Here are a few of the essays, games and stories that pushed us to reconsider the present and extend our empathy in surprising new directions.
Chuck Klosterman, “But What If We’re Wrong: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past”
I always enjoy reading Chuck Klosterman’s work but I think this is his best book yet—it was a treat to be able to speak to him about it. It’s a series of mind-bending thought experiments in which Chuck asks some very big questions. Will our understanding of gravity change at some point in the future? Who will people three hundred years from now consider the most successful rock star of our time? You might think that this kind of speculative thinking is a waste of your valuable cognitive bandwidth but you’re wrong. Or maybe I’m wrong. Actually, we’re probably both wrong. —Doug Gordon
Alexander Weinstein, “Children of the New World: Stories”
In his debut collection, Weinstein explores the way that digital technology continues to affect our lives and change the way we think about what it means to be human. The standout story is the heartbreaking “Saying Goodbye to Yang,” in which a family has to deal with their robotic child’s mortality. The stories have a kind of George Saunders vibe. Think a kinder, gentler, less dystopian version of “Black Mirror.” —Doug Gordon
Ariel Levy, “The Rules Do Not Apply”
Ariel Levy’s “Thanksgiving in Mongolia” is one of the most honest and affecting essays I’ve ever read, and nearly two years after it was published in the New Yorker, it still manages to give me goosebumps every time I reread it. In 4,000 words, Levy describes in intimate detail — and with almost clinical detachment — her sudden miscarriage while on a reporting trip in Mongolia. She’s due to bring out a follow-up memoir early in 2017. “The Rules Do Not Apply” traces her life after that terrible event, and chronicles her unconventional career as a staff writer for the New Yorker. If the new memoir is anything like the original essay, it’s sure to be on my best-of list at this time next year. —Rehman Tungekar
Superhot
In working to control my occasional anxieties, I’ve experimented mindfulness meditation, attempting to slow down my world to analyze and reflect. In 2016, I discovered a game that gets me to a similar place. In “Superhot,” you play a gamer who discovers a secretive new computer game where time only winds forward when you move, jump, shoot or throw. Your objective in each stage is to eliminate the innumerable faceless attackers that run at you. So you dodge bullets, grab projectiles out of midair, and hurl deadly implements (mugs, glasses, bullets, your fists) at your foes using your temporal awareness, which requires carefully planning each step you take, each item you grab and each punch you take. Every action requires consideration of the action that will follow, making every scene of “Superhot” feel more like mastering a puzzle than excelling at a shooter. —Mark Riechers
Ed Yong, “I Contain Multitudes”
When I was young I loved reading about microbes. Yes, it was a weird fascination, but I was inspired by the level of complexity and sophistication in these simple, tiny machines. Earlier this year, Ed Yong, who covers science for The Atlantic, came out with a book which captures that same sense of amazement. Combining a storyteller’s wit with a scholar’s erudition, “I Contain Multitudes” explores the hidden world of microbes, from harmless gut bacteria to deadly pathogens. Along the way, Yong takes us inside world famous labs and introduces some fascinating researchers. A wonderful read for anyone seeking more awe and wonder in their life. —Rehman Tungekar
