Ignorance

The bestselling masterpiece tale of love and exile in Prague by the author of modern classic The Unbearable Lightness of Being . 'An artist, clearly one of the best to be found anywhere.' Salman Rushdie 'Kundera designs fictions of the highest order.' Ian McEwan 'A subtle, penetrating and deeply felt exploration of the sadness, loneliness and irreparable loss of exile: one of [Kundera's] best novels.' Sunday Times Irena has been exiled to Paris since leaving Czechoslovakia after the crushing of the Prague Spring in 1968. Twenty years later, after the collapse of Communism, she returns to her homeland - and reunites, by chance, with Josef, a fellow émigré and her one-time lover. Will they pick up the thread of their strange love story, interrupted in their native land almost as soon as it began - now lost in the tides of history, far from home? Or do their memories no longer align? A profound, polyphonic meditation on absence and alienation, nostalgia and truth, Ignorance is a masterpiece exposing the reality behind the romance of the homeward voyage.

The bestselling masterpiece tale of love and exile in Prague by the author of modern classic The Unbearable Lightness of Being . 'An artist, clearly one of the best to be found anywhere.' Salman Rushdie 'Kundera designs fictions of the highest order.' Ian McEwan 'A subtle, penetrating and deeply felt exploration of the sadness, loneliness and irreparable loss of exile: one of [Kundera's] best novels.' Sunday Times Irena has been exiled to Paris since leaving Czechoslovakia after the crushing of the Prague Spring in 1968. Twenty years later, after the collapse of Communism, she returns to her homeland - and reunites, by chance, with Josef, a fellow émigré and her one-time lover. Will they pick up the thread of their strange love story, interrupted in their native land almost as soon as it began - now lost in the tides of history, far from home? Or do their memories no longer align? A profound, polyphonic meditation on absence and alienation, nostalgia and truth, Ignorance is a masterpiece exposing the reality behind the romance of the homeward voyage.

"A fascinating catalogue of the conditions and agency of ignorance"--Jeffrey Collins, Times Literary Supplement "A declaration of love for education"--Stefan Bauer, History Today "Dazzling . . . a deliciously knowledgeable history of ignorance"--David Armitage A rich, wide-ranging history of ignorance in all its forms, from antiquity to the present day Throughout history, every age has thought of itself as more knowledgeable than the last. Renaissance humanists viewed the Middle Ages as an era of darkness, Enlightenment thinkers tried to sweep superstition away with reason, the modern welfare state sought to slay the "giant" of ignorance, and in today's hyperconnected world seemingly limitless information is available on demand. But what about the knowledge lost over the centuries? Are we really any less ignorant than our ancestors? In this highly original account, Peter Burke examines the long history of humanity's ignorance across religion and science, war and politics, business and catastrophes. Burke reveals remarkable stories of the many forms of ignorance--genuine or feigned, conscious and unconscious--from the willful politicians who redrew Europe's borders in 1919 to the politics of whistleblowing and climate change denial. The result is a lively exploration of human knowledge across the ages, and the importance of recognizing its limits.

"A fascinating catalogue of the conditions and agency of ignorance"—Jeffrey Collins, Times Literary Supplement "A declaration of love for education"—Stefan Bauer, History Today "Dazzling . . . a deliciously knowledgeable history of ignorance"—David Armitage A rich, wide-ranging history of ignorance in all its forms, from antiquity to the present day Throughout history, every age has thought of itself as more knowledgeable than the last. Renaissance humanists viewed the Middle Ages as an era of darkness, Enlightenment thinkers tried to sweep superstition away with reason, the modern welfare state sought to slay the “giant” of ignorance, and in today’s hyperconnected world seemingly limitless information is available on demand. But what about the knowledge lost over the centuries? Are we really any less ignorant than our ancestors? In this highly original account, Peter Burke examines the long history of humanity’s ignorance across religion and science, war and politics, business and catastrophes. Burke reveals remarkable stories of the many forms of ignorance—genuine or feigned, conscious and unconscious—from the willful politicians who redrew Europe’s borders in 1919 to the politics of whistleblowing and climate change denial. The result is a lively exploration of human knowledge across the ages, and the importance of recognizing its limits.

Knowledge is a big subject, says Stuart Firestein, but ignorance is a bigger one. And it is ignorance--not knowledge--that is the true engine of science. Most of us have a false impression of science as a surefire, deliberate, step-by-step method for finding things out and getting things done. In fact, says Firestein, more often than not, science is like looking for a black cat in a dark room, and there may not be a cat in the room. The process is more hit-or-miss than you might imagine, with much stumbling and groping after phantoms. But it is exactly this "not knowing," this puzzling over thorny questions or inexplicable data, that gets researchers into the lab early and keeps them there late, the thing that propels them, the very driving force of science. Firestein shows how scientists use ignorance to program their work, to identify what should be done, what the next steps are, and where they should concentrate their energies. And he includes a catalog of how scientists use ignorance, consciously or unconsciously--a remarkable range of approaches that includes looking for connections to other research, revisiting apparently settled questions, using small questions to get at big ones, and tackling a problem simply out of curiosity. The book concludes with four case histories--in cognitive psychology, theoretical physics, astronomy, and neuroscience--that provide a feel for the nuts and bolts of ignorance, the day-to-day battle that goes on in scientific laboratories and in scientific minds with questions that range from the quotidian to the profound. Turning the conventional idea about science on its head, Ignorance opens a new window on the true nature of research. It is a must-read for anyone curious about science.

Knowledge is a big subject, says Stuart Firestein, but ignorance is a bigger one. And it is ignorance--not knowledge--that is the true engine of science. Most of us have a false impression of science as a surefire, deliberate, step-by-step method for finding things out and getting things done. In fact, says Firestein, more often than not, science is like looking for a black cat in a dark room, and there may not be a cat in the room. The process is more hit-or-miss than you might imagine, with much stumbling and groping after phantoms. But it is exactly this "not knowing," this puzzling over thorny questions or inexplicable data, that gets researchers into the lab early and keeps them there late, the thing that propels them, the very driving force of science. Firestein shows how scientists use ignorance to program their work, to identify what should be done, what the next steps are, and where they should concentrate their energies. And he includes a catalog of how scientists use ignorance, consciously or unconsciously--a remarkable range of approaches that includes looking for connections to other research, revisiting apparently settled questions, using small questions to get at big ones, and tackling a problem simply out of curiosity. The book concludes with four case histories--in cognitive psychology, theoretical physics, astronomy, and neuroscience--that provide a feel for the nuts and bolts of ignorance, the day-to-day battle that goes on in scientific laboratories and in scientific minds with questions that range from the quotidian to the profound. Turning the conventional idea about science on its head, Ignorance opens a new window on the true nature of research. It is a must-read for anyone curious about science.

"Ignorance is an intellectual defect, imperfection, privation, or shortcoming." So begins James Ferrier's "The Agnoiolgy," the section of his treatise, The Institutes of Metaphysic (1854), in which he describes a theory of ignorance. In sympathy with Ferrier, Ignorance between knowing and not knowing concerns the nature of ignorance, its relationship to knowledge and its differentiation from merely not knowing. However, this book additionally considers how different forms of ignorance exert force within the creation and reception of art. These topics are explored through a range of essays drawn from contributors within the fields of philosophy, literary theory, and art criticism. Ignorance provides a reflection in negative to the normative structure of knowledge. It is the absence of knowledge that we "should have." This moral dimension can be seen in the persona, created by the medieval philosopher Nicholas of Cusa, of "the idiot," who is aware of his ignorance yet this awareness brings with it a humility, or the assumed ignorance within the Socratic dialogues. This book traces connections between ignorance within the philosophical realm - as both a strategy within discourse and as an object of inquiry - and how it occurs within art. Particular consideration is paid to art's utilization of ignorance as a means for establishing uncertainty and ambiguity. Within this publication ignorance is not solely understood as a state one seeks to escape from but rather, through its role within art and philosophy, it offers the potential to other forms of articulation and understanding.

"Ignorance is an intellectual defect, imperfection, privation, or shortcoming." So begins James Ferrier's "The Agnoiolgy," the section of his treatise, The Institutes of Metaphysic (1854), in which he describes a theory of ignorance. In sympathy with Ferrier, Ignorance between knowing and not knowing concerns the nature of ignorance, its relationship to knowledge and its differentiation from merely not knowing. However, this book additionally considers how different forms of ignorance exert force within the creation and reception of art. These topics are explored through a range of essays drawn from contributors within the fields of philosophy, literary theory, and art criticism. Ignorance provides a reflection in negative to the normative structure of knowledge. It is the absence of knowledge that we "should have." This moral dimension can be seen in the persona, created by the medieval philosopher Nicholas of Cusa, of "the idiot," who is aware of his ignorance yet this awareness brings with it a humility, or the assumed ignorance within the Socratic dialogues. This book traces connections between ignorance within the philosophical realm - as both a strategy within discourse and as an object of inquiry - and how it occurs within art. Particular consideration is paid to art's utilization of ignorance as a means for establishing uncertainty and ambiguity. Within this publication ignorance is not solely understood as a state one seeks to escape from but rather, through its role within art and philosophy, it offers the potential to other forms of articulation and understanding.

Does the lack of evidence mean that aliens don't exist? Why does an unproven mathematical hypothesis have profound consequences? Are humans capable of grasping the nature of divinity? Is it ethical to give a patient a placebo? Why do people persist in demonstrably false beliefs like flat earth theory? Should someone want to know when they will die? George G. Szpiro examines these questions and many others, offering an engaging and witty tour of what we can learn from ignorance. In a series of fast-paced chapters, he unravels problems ranging across science, mathematics, law, economics, politics, religion, psychology, and philosophy--some esoteric, others drawn from everyday life. Ignorance comes in many forms, Szpiro shows. Some questions are only temporarily unsolved; others are inherently unanswerable. Sometimes authorities keep answers from us, for good or ill. Often our assumptions and biases keep us from overcoming our ignorance, and occasionally we choose to remain ignorant--for surprisingly rational reasons. Ultimately, Szpiro argues, ignorance is not purely negative. It can motivate the pursuit of learning and wisdom--as long as we acknowledge it. Presenting sophisticated topics in an accessible way, this book shows how ignorance sheds light on the nature of knowledge.

Does the lack of evidence mean that aliens don't exist? Why does an unproven mathematical hypothesis have profound consequences? Are humans capable of grasping the nature of divinity? Is it ethical to give a patient a placebo? Why do people persist in demonstrably false beliefs like flat earth theory? Should someone want to know when they will die? George G. Szpiro examines these questions and many others, offering an engaging and witty tour of what we can learn from ignorance. In a series of fast-paced chapters, he unravels problems ranging across science, mathematics, law, economics, politics, religion, psychology, and philosophy--some esoteric, others drawn from everyday life. Ignorance comes in many forms, Szpiro shows. Some questions are only temporarily unsolved; others are inherently unanswerable. Sometimes authorities keep answers from us, for good or ill. Often our assumptions and biases keep us from overcoming our ignorance, and occasionally we choose to remain ignorant--for surprisingly rational reasons. Ultimately, Szpiro argues, ignorance is not purely negative. It can motivate the pursuit of learning and wisdom--as long as we acknowledge it. Presenting sophisticated topics in an accessible way, this book shows how ignorance sheds light on the nature of knowledge.