Existence

FOLLOW-UP RESOURCES

There will be ongoing discussion, starting at the Tor Books site, but also at www.davidbrin.com/existence.html and on my blog: Contrary Brin.

Regarding the inescapable fact that inter-human violence has plummeted since 1945, see Steven Pinker’s book The Better Angels of Our Nature. Or watch his presentations online.

The crucial concept of positive sum games-the entire basis of our ongoing Enlightenment Experiment-can be explored in one of the most important books of our time, Nonzero, by Robert Wright. My own nonfiction book The Transparent Society delves deeply into questions of secrecy, privacy, and freedom.

Then, once you are girded with good news, explore the darker side! Dive into Jared Diamond’s book Collapse. Our Final Century by Martin Rees and Global Catastrophic Risks by Nick Bostrom and Milan Ćirković will take you on a lovely guided tour of how stacked the odds appear to be against us. A painfully attractive voyage through daunting perils that culminated in my own contributions to the popular show Life After People.

Finally, if you feel a wakened need to help tip the balance, have a look at suggestions for how even busy, average citizens can make a difference, via proxy power: www.davidbrin.com/proxyactivism.htm. It happens to be easy. So no excuses.