Science in an Age of Unreason

by John Staddon

Science is undergoing an identity crisis! A renown psychologist and biologist diagnoses our age of wishful, magical thinking and blasts out a clarion call for a return to reason and the search for objective knowledge and truth. Fans of Matt Ridley and Nicholas Wade will adore this trenchant meditation and call to action.

Science is in trouble. Real questions in desperate need of answers—especially those surrounding ethnicity, gender, climate change, and almost anything related to ‘health and safety’—are swiftly buckling to the fiery societal demands of what ought to be rather than what is. These foregone conclusions may be comforting, but each capitulation to modernity’s whims threatens the integrity of scientific inquiry. Can true, fact-based discovery be redeemed?

In Science in an Age of Unreason , legendary professor of psychology and biology, John Staddon, unveils the identity crisis afflicting today’s scientific community, and provides an actionable path to recovery. With intellectual depth and literary flair, Staddon answers pressing questions,


Informed by decades of expertise, Science in an Age of Unreason is a clarion call to rebirth academia as a beacon of reason and truth in a society demanding its unconditional submission.

Genres: Science, Philosophy, Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

Published June 7, 2022

Reviews

[Ian D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ένα από τα δείγματα αναγνωστικής ωριμότητας είναι να καταπιαστείς με απόψεις αντίθετες με τις δικές σου ή έστω με θέματα με τα οποία διαφωνείς ή που σε κάνουν να αισθάνεσαι άβολα. Αν και δεν είμαι εντελώς πεπεισμένος πως αυτός ήταν ο σκοπός του John Staddon, δε λείπουν οι στιγμές που ανεβάζουν την αδρεναλίνη μας. Από τη θρησκεία, την επικοινωνία της επιστήμης, την ανθρωπογενή κλιματική αλλαγή, τις στατιστικές και την κοινωνιολογία, εκθέτει πολλά από τα γνωστικά σφάλματα που μας εμποδίζουν να δούμε τη ζωή ορθολογικά.

Όχι το ευκολότερο ανάγνωσμα αλλά σίγουρα ενδιαφέρον, με αρκετές αφορμές για προβληματισμό και αυτοκριτική. Ίσως και λίγο εκνευρισμό όταν θίγονται θέματα ευαίσθητα...

[Peter · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book left me completely bewildered. It’s a receptacle of 19th century moral on women, minorities and sexual orientation. Furthermore, it accuses many scientific theories of being impossible to prove, and within a page exposes a plethora of rumors and insinuations.
Ample paragraphs are devoted at targeted attacks to other Duke faculties that-likely-published more well-received and acclaimed by the press. This is a shameful piece of literature (sic)!

[Ant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting read on the current state of academia by an old school scientist who seems to be genuine in his search for truth. I think its actually a very optimistic view on humanity: lets find the truth of a matter and deal with the ramifications in a civilised and caring manner.