This Will Make You Smarter

Featuring a foreword by David Brooks, This Will Make You Smarter presents brilliant—but accessible—ideas to expand every mind.

What scientific concept would improve everybody’s cognitive toolkit? This is the question John Brockman, publisher of Edge.org, posed to the world’s most influential thinkers. Their visionary answers flow from the frontiers of psychology, philosophy, economics, physics, sociology, and more. Surprising and enlightening, these insights will revolutionize the way you think about yourself and the world.

Contributors include:



Daniel Kahneman on the “focusing illusion”
Jonah Lehrer on controlling attention
Richard Dawkins on experimentation
Aubrey De Grey on conquering our fear of the unknown
Martin Seligman on the ingredients of well-being
Nicholas Carr on managing “cognitive load”
Steven Pinker on win-win negotiating
Daniel Goleman on understanding our connection to the natural world
Matt Ridley on tapping collective intelligence
Lisa Randall on effective theorizing
Brian Eno on “ecological vision”
J. Craig Venter on the multiple possible origins of life  
Helen Fisher on temperament
Sam Harris on the flow of thought
Lawrence Krauss on living with uncertainty 

Author: John Brockman

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Released Date: 2012

ISBN: 9780062109392