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Knowing What We Know
The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic
Read by: Simon Winchester
Author: Simon Winchester
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Published: 25th April 2023
Digital Audiobook
$49.99
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'A delightful compendium of the kind of facts you immediately want to share with anyone you encounter' New York Times
'An ebullient, irrepressible spirit invests this book. It is erudite and sprightly'Sunday Times
From the creation of the first encyclopedia to Wikipedia, from ancient museums to modern kindergarten classes—here is award-winning writer Simon Winchester's brilliant and all-encompassing look at how humans acquire, retain, and pass on information and data, and how technology continues to change our lives and our minds.
With the advent of the internet, any topic we want to know about is instantly available with the touch of a smartphone button. With so much knowledge at our fingertips, what is there left for our brains to do? At a time when we seem to be stripping all value from the idea of knowing things - no need for maths, no need for map reading, no need for memorisation - are we risking our ability to think? As we empty our minds, will we one day be incapable of thoughtfulness?
Addressing these questions, Simon Winchester explores how humans have attained, stored and disseminated knowledge. Examining such disciplines as education, journalism, encyclopedia creation, museum curation, photography and broadcasting, he looks at a whole range of knowledge diffusion - from the cuneiform writings of Babylon to the machine-made genius of artificial intelligence, by way of Gutenberg, Google and Wikipedia to the huge Victorian assemblage of the Mundaneum, the collection of everything ever known, currently stored in a damp basement in northern Belgium.
Studded with strange and fascinating details, Knowing What We Know is a deep dive into learning and the human mind. Throughout this fascinating tour, Winchester forces us to ponder what rational humans are becoming. What good is all this knowledge if it leads to lack of thought? What is information without wisdom? Does Rene Descartes' 'Cogito, ergo sum'—'I think, therefore I am', the foundation for human knowledge widely accepted since the Enlightenment—still hold?
And what will the world be like if no one in it is wise?
Simon Winchester's new book, Knowing What We Know, is a deep dive into the philosophy of knowledge, questioning the role of wisdom in our increasingly digital society. It's a thought-provoking exploration of the history of knowledge, from the classical era to the latest advancements in technology.
For fans of Hampton Sides (In the Kingdom of Ice), David Grann (The Wager), Walter Isaacson (Invent and Wander), Peter Frankopan (The First Crusade), and Tim Marshall (Divided).
HarperCollins 2023
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ISBN: 9780008484415
ISBN-10: 0008484414
Published: 25th April 2023
Format: Digital Audiobook
Language: English
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Duration: 14:19.16
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- Non-FictionPhilosophyEpistemology & The Theory of Knowledge
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- Non-FictionComputing & I.T.Information Technology General Issue
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- Non-FictionSociology & AnthropologyAnthropologySocial & Cultural Anthropology, Ethnography
- Non-FictionComputing & I.T.Computer Science