The Last Unknowns

I would not recommend reading this book right before you go to sleep. You will either get addicted to turning each page to the next, unable to stop at the last “question”, or will find yourself stuck on the implications of an individual point, keeping you up. In my case, I feel victim to both, but it was well worth it. I’m a huge fan of Edge, who complied this book of unanswered last questions — “hypotheses that people are working with that are rescued into some type of very simple single question with no explanation, hopefully, that’s important to them in their won evolution of knowledge.”

The book features a diversity of thinkers (all at least tangentially in the sciences) who put forth their “last questions,” ranging from “what might the last fully biological human’s statement be at their last supper” to “does religious engagement promote or impede morality, altruism, and human flourishing?” I find myself most attracted to inquiries related to genetic engineering, artificial general intelligence, and whether a future world including both is viable, desirable, or even certain.