But What If We're Wrong? (27 page)

predictions

author's,
1
–2,
182

making,
49

presidencies

color or religion as non-issue,
217
–18

judging and ranking,
203
–6,
218
–19

Obama's legacy,
217
–18

presidential election (2000),
197
–98

Presley, Elvis,
74
–77

pressure, responding to,
250
n

Pride and Prejudice
(Austen),
45

probability,
109
–10

proof, scientific,
120
,
135
–36

public opinion

on football,
184

influenced by name recognition,
90
–92

on unfamiliar subject,
90
–91

punk music,
79
–80

quantum mechanics,
4
,
105
,
107
,
120

radio, and incomparability to television,
160
n

Radiohead,
66
,
73

Radiolab
(radio show),
190
–91

Rage Against the Machine,
197
–98

Reagan, Ronald,
79
,
203
–5,
235

Real Sports
(TV show),
185

Real World
,
The
(TV show),
170

reality TV,
169
–70

realization of a simulated world,
126
–28

“Really Big One, The” (Schulz),
258
–59

relevance of written work,
45
–47

Republic, The
(Plato),
215

respect for past classic works,
243
–45

Rest Is Noise, The
(Ross),
73

retrospective insight,
14
–17

reversals of scientific opinions,
3
–7,
97
–98

Revolution Was Televised, The
(Sepinwall),
164

Revolver
(album),
67

Rhodes, Dusty,
234
–35

Richards, Keith,
85

Riddle, Nelson,
78

risks, calculating,
258
–61

Road, The
(McCarthy),
47
–48

rock music,
14
,
60
–87,
92
n
,
95
,
161

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

authority of youth over age,
69

Chuck Berry as the epitome of,
85
–86

limitations and demise of,
63
,
68
–69

monomyth of,
74
–77

“Rock is dead” assertion,
61
–64

“Southern rock,”
85
n

style vs. substance,
75
–76

subgenres,
60
–61,
66
–67

subjectivity of appreciation,
72
–73

rock music vs. rock 'n' roll music,
60
–61

rock and roll music,
59
–60,
68
,
74
,
82
,
86
.
See also
rock music

rock 'n' roll music,
59
–60,
72
,
78
,
82
,
85
,
159
.
See also
rock music

Rolling Stone
,
154
n

Rolling Stones,
70
,
82
–83

Romo, Tony,
1

Roseanne
(TV show),
173
–75

Ross, Alex,
73
–74

Roth, Philip,
51
,
55
–56

Rowling, J. K.,
27
–28

Rubber Soul
(album),
67
,
75

Sagan, Carl,
83
–84

Saturday Night Fever
(album),
79
–80

Saunders, George,
22
–24

Schulz, Kathryn,
10
–11,
49
–50,
258

Science Digest
,
16
–17

Scientific American
,
223

scientific beliefs

card game analogy,
112
–13

evolving,
3
–7,
97
–98,
225
–26

future revolutionary discoveries,
223
–26

major shifts before 1600,
99
–101,
108
,
117
–18

“normal science,”
115
–16,
226

society's feelings about,
226

verified by experiments,
100

See also
paradigm shifts in science

scientific consensus,
112
–13

Second Amendment rights,
220

Selvin, Ben,
77

Sepinwall, Alan,
164

“September Gurls” (song),
95

Sex Pistols,
79
–80

shadow histories,
40
–41

Shakespeare, William,
32
,
70
,
90
,
94

Shteyngart, Gary,
47

Silicon Valley
(TV show),
170

Silk Road,
37

Simmons, J. K.,
188
–89

Simulacra and Simulation
(Baudrillard),
28

simulation hypothesis,
28
,
121
–26

artificial intelligence,
124

bar analogy,
126
–28

“breaking the game,”
128
–29

cosmic rays as evidence of,
125
n

and God,
124
–27

morality,
126
–28

numerical constants,
124
–25,
130

realization of,
126
–28

shepherd analogy,
121

Sinatra, Frank,
75
–76

Singularity (era),
227
–29

skepticism about widely held beliefs,
237
–38

skiffle music,
161

sky appearing blue, explanation for,
111

Slacker
(film),
141

sleep and dying, relationship between,
141
–42

“Smells Like Teen Spirit” (song),
70

Snowden, Edward,
236

Song of Ice and Fire, A
(Martin),
53
n

Sopranos, The
(TV show),
71

Souls of All Living Creatures, The
,
256

Sousa, John Philip,
64
–65

Soviet Union, fall of,
204

space

and time,
113
–14

travel,
16
–17,
83
–84,
118
–20

Speedboat
(Adler),
235

SPIN
,
92
n

sports

analytics,
250
–52

children's involvement in,
190
–91

“clutch” scenarios,
250
n

and physical risks,
183

statistics,
249
–50

as televised-only events,
192
–93

Star Wars
(film),
57
n

statistics, sports,
249
–50

Steel, Danielle,
52
n

Stevenson, Robert Louis,
143

storytelling

fox-vs.-hedgehog analogy,
199
–201

through monomyths,
74

personal interpretation of events,
203

and relationship to history,
202
–3

“utility myth,”
218
–19

Structure of Scientific Revolutions, The
(Kuhn),
114
–16

subjective vs. objective,
94
,
96
–97,
148
–51

Supreme Court,
210

symmetry, statistical,
26
–27

Syro
(album),
38
n

Talking Heads,
68

Tartt, Donna,
52

TED talk about the multiverse,
105
–6

Teenage Fanclub,
92
n

teenage years, recognition of,
62
n

telephone usage, changes in,
15
–16

television

first Golden Age (1940s–1960),
172

second Golden Age (1990s–2010s),
172

ancient Egypt analogy,
162
–63

as art form,
71
,
165
–66

as entertainment only (1970s–1980s),
172
–73

filming and staging,
168

incomparability to radio,
160
n

“misunderstanding” plot (1970s),
167

natural dialogue,
166
–67

realism, desire for,
163
–65,
167
–68

reality TV,
169
–70

realness, achieving,
171
–72

roman à clef programming,
170
–71

sports viewing,
192
–93,
251
–52

viewing, changes in,
159
–60

Teller, Miles,
188
–89

Tenth of December
(Saunders),
23

Terminator
(film franchise),
227

“Testify” (music video),
197
–98

time

effect of,
44
–45,
56
–57,
70
,
205
–6,
233
–35

and space,
113
–14

Toland, Gregg,
244

“Tom Joad” (song),
230

transgender issues,
29
–30

transgressive art,
79
–80

Trial, The
(Kafka),
36
,
38

Truman Show, The
(film),
126

truths, accepting,
238
–39

Twitter,
86

Tyson, Neil deGrasse,
99
–103,
105
,
108
–12,
115
–16,
125
n
,
224
–25

Ultimate Warrior,
234

universe.
See
multiverse hypothesis

University of Virginia rape story,
154
n

unpopular opinions, opposition to,
211
–12

UnREAL
(TV show),
170

Uranus, orbit of,
108
–9

US government

Bill of Rights,
209
–12

Constitution,
207
–12,
220
–21

feelings of doom about,
206
–7

founding of,
207

Supreme Court,
210

U.S. News & World Report
,
206

USA Today
,
192

“utility myth,”
218
–19

validating hypotheses,
106
–7

Van Halen, Eddie,
63
–64

Vargas-Cooper, Natasha,
243

video games

effect on children and sports,
191

Grand Theft Auto,
128

L.A. Noire,
128
–29

violence in sports,
183
–85,
187

Virga, Vint,
256

Vollmann, William T.,
51

Vonnegut, Kurt,
43
–45

Voodoo Histories
(Aaronovitch),
133
–34

voting,
216
–17.
See also
elections, US

Voyager
(spacecraft),
83

Wachowski, Lana (formerly Larry),
29

Wachowski, Lilly (formerly Andy),
29

Waking Life
(film),
141
–42

Wallace, David Foster,
48

Wall Street Journal, The
,
190
–91

war,
226
–27

War Games
(film),
227

Washington, George,
218
–19,
221

Welles, Orson,
244

Wexler, Jay D.,
208
–11

What Good Are the Arts?
(Carey),
70

“What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” (Nagel),
254

Whiplash
(film),
188
–89

Williams, Hank,
70

Williams, Robin,
255

Wine, April,
60

Winfrey, Oprah,
182

Witten, Edward,
224
–25,
236

World War I,
9

wrestling, pro,
234
–35

Wright, Frank Lloyd,
90
–92

Wright, Lawrence,
52

writers

bloggers as,
231
–32

changing tastes of readers,
93
–94

cult,
53
–54

poets,
93
–94

pyramid analogy,
51
–56

“quietly unrated,”
54
–55

ranking the best,
22
–28,
30
–39,
49
–50,
92
–94

recognizing diverse,
25
–27

“vocally unrated,”
52
–53

writing that represents life,
43
–47

Y2K crisis,
1
–2

“Young Love” (song),
79

“You're doing it wrong” argument,
242
,
243
,
250

Zero Dark Thirty
(film),
152