Conscientious Thinking: Making Sense in an Age of Idiot Savants

Georgia Review Books

by David Bosworth, Stephen Corey (Editor)

In Conscientious Thinking , David Bosworth cuts through all the noise of today's political dysfunction and cultural wars to sound the deeper causes of our discontent. Americans are living, he argues, in a profoundly transitional era, one in which the commonsense beliefs of the first truly modern society are being undermined by the still crude but irreversible forces set loose by technology's drastic revision of our everyday lives. He shows how this disruptive conflict between modern and post-modern modes of reasoning can be found in all advanced fields, including art, medicine, and science, and then traces its impact on our daily actions through such changes as the ways in which friends relate, money is made, crimes are committed, and mates are chosen.



Just as feudal values had to give way to a modern worldview that more effectively contained the new social reality generated by the printed book, so must our democracy reimagine itself in ways that can domesticate--civilize rather than merely "monetize"--a post-modern scene radically transformed by our digital machines. To that end, Conscientious Thinking supplies not only the means to make sense of our contentious times but also a provisional sketch of what a desirable post-modern America might look like.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

272 pages, ebook

Published February 1, 2017

Reviews

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

A valuable critique of American culture that is worth pondering!
It is an enriching book with refined, lucid, sharp and cultivated prose, the author expresses in a very critical way his position regarding the supposed rational capacity and our technological civilization based on scientific thought, but that is far from the sanity, so that we create artifacts that threaten us and destroy nature, and also makes us virtual slaves.
Through 3 emblematic personalities, David Bosworth tells us that being brilliant is not necessarily grounded in wisdom; provokes us and invites us to return to a more ethical, aesthetic and humanistic way, which is very necessary and urgent in our times; explains the reasons for our modern and postmodern thinking that have resulted in the existential vacuum and American social dissatisfaction in all spheres of human doing. In addition he proposes, in his way of seeing, a scheme of how we could solve ourselves, through a cultural progress that proceeds through transcendental integration (arts, science, economics, ethics and humanism) and not extermination.
These kinds of criticisms are very necessary at a time when we need to move into new paradigms; Which help us break with outdated thinking systems that hinder progress towards more holistic approaches.
My gratitude to the Publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review the book.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there was any meritocracy in literature, this book would be read by all those who seriously think about the world we live in and how to navigate it. Bosworth argues for engagement between the humanities and science and throughout his narrative he demonstrates "at every level from the subatomic to the macroscopic that "we are all in this together" connected and interacting in multiple ways..." This is book that I came across serendipitously and was glad to spend several nights energized by his ideas through his expansive understanding of science, literature, literary criticism, economics,philosophy and sociology. Rather than adhering to a specific -ism like fundamentalism, post-modernism or scientific reductivism, he demonstrates how adherence to a particular ideology or belief system, limits our ability to cull the best from the multiple points of view from various disciplines so that we can remain cautiously hopeful in these disruptive times.

[Val Washington · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book for people who love ideas. It is not an easy read, but definitely worth the effort. It is filled with interesting perspectives, astute observations, and unique analyses. I didn't agree with everything Bosworth has to say, but unpacking his complex sentences and thoughts was not just enlightening, but fun - in a cerebral kind of way.
Though the book was published before the Trump presidency, and no mention is made of the man, Bosworth seems to have predicted the Trump era.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not an easy book to read - or to review - but it is worth the effort. I have read and reread passages and still ponder some of the author's ideas. Mr Bosworth uses the term "idiot savant" to challenge some esteemed thinkers and ask if they are of value. I had no idea Henry Ford was such a character until I read the chapters here devoted to him. Some of his parties must have been fascinating even if they don't all show Ford in a great light looking back.

I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Harold Bloom as I have read many of his books of literary criticism. The thing I most liked about Mr Bosworth's analysis was that I came away reassured that I didn't have to beat myself up for not understanding all that Bloom writes. There is a lot of learning in here and many writers and intellectuals are named and quoted and I think I will be following up on some of the people and ideas in the months ahead. Recommended if you sometimes find yourself lost among "the greats" and want something reassuring but difficult that will make you think with every page.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.