The BIG IDEAS Book Club

Do you sometimes think about those moments in your past where a small choice or chance occurrence set your life on an entirely new trajectory? Historians point to similar moments in world history. But is the existence of such moments just a truism concerning relatively rare events, or do they pose deeper questions about understanding ourselves, our world and the way we do social science?

Book: Fluke – Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters (2024) by Brian Klaas.

In our book this month, Brian Klaas, a political scientist at University College London and author of a previous Big Ideas book (Corruptible, 2021), argues that we live in a world that is more interesting and complex than we are led to believe. If we gaze a little closer, the storybook reality of tidy causes and connections gives way to a reality defined much more by chance and chaos, an arbitrarily intertwined world in which every moment, no matter how small, can count.

Klaas attempts to tackle several big questions, including:

• Does everything happen for a reason, or does stuff… just happen?
• Why do tiny changes sometimes produce huge impacts?
• Why do we cling to a clean storybook version of reality even if it’s not true?
• Can’t we just tame flukes with better data and more sophisticated probability models?
• Can we live better, happier lives if we embrace the chaos of our world?

As in Corruptible, Klaas adopts a multidisciplinary approach and examines flukes and contingencies through various avenues, including history, philosophy, chaos theory and complex adaptive systems, evolutionary biology, and psychology.

While reading the book for this meetup is not compulsory, it is strongly encouraged to enable more focal points in our discussion. But Klaas has also done some presentations and interviews on the book. Some of these are linked below.

So share your sliding door moments and join us for a drink (and optional meal) at 6.30pm Monday, August 5th at the far-end of the 2nd floor at the Keg & Brew Hotel, Surrey Hills. The Keg & Brew is close to Central Station and the Light Rail.

Hope to see you there!

p.s. PLEASE ADJUST YOUR RSVP if you have indicated that you will come but are no longer able to do so. This is courteous to people on the waitlist.

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These are just possible links to consider. If you know of something useful on this topic, feel free to pass on the links in the discussion section.

Note that there have been a few other books related to this topic published in recent months. If you are enthused by the topic, or not resonating with Klaas’s book, feel free to look at these other books and share what you’ve learned at the Meetup.
- Sunstein (2024) How to Become Famous - Lost Einsteins, Forgotten Superstars, and How the Beatles Came to Be. (Particularly looks at the luck factor in terms of fame.)
- Rank (2024) The Random Factor - How Chance and Luck Profoundly Shape Our Lives and the World around Us. (Is somewhat similar to Klaas's book but has a better discussion of the implications of the random factor in our lives, both at a policy level and personal level.)
- Tank (2024) Luck By Design - The Science And Serendipity Of A Well-Lived Life.

Videos

• A 1-hour presentation by Klaas at the LSE:

As AI capabilities surge forward, we stand on the brink of understanding how intelligence and consciousness arise, how emotions and feelings are generated and how our brains adapt to technological evolution.

Imagine a future where our brains are augmented through cognitive advancements, seamlessly integrating organic and digital networks with cutting-edge technologies. This fusion holds the key to unprecedented enhancements in human capabilities: faster information processing, enhanced memory and novel modes of cognition.

Beyond these advancements lie fundamental questions that continue to captivate scientists and philosophers alike: What is consciousness and how does it originate? Can machines or robots be conscious? How does agency manifest in physical systems? How do atoms organise into structures capable of thought and emotion? The intersection of these inquiries with technologies like DishBrain and brain organoids could revolutionise fields from neuroscience and psychology to artificial intelligence and philosophy.

Has the time come to fundamentally re-think the relationship between mind and matter?

Presented by Sydney Opera House, Big Questions Institute and the University of Sydney

Meet the Speakers
Paul Davies is a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, astrobiologist and best-selling author. His research has been mostly in quantum gravity, with application to the early universe and black holes and on the nature of time. More recently he has worked on the origin of life, the search for life beyond Earth and the deep evolutionary roots of cancer. Among his many awards, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2011 and he has an asteroid named after him in recognition of his work on cosmic impacts.
Dr Inês Hipólito stands at the forefront of the philosophy of mind and cognitive science of AI. Renowned for her insights into fundamental questions surrounding agency and intelligence, Dr. Hipolito is sought after as a speaker at academic conferences, public lectures and podcasts alike. Currently holding the esteemed position of Assistant Professor at Macquarie University and serving as a researcher at the Macquarie Ethics and Agency Research Centre, Dr. Hipolito's academic journey is fortified by her previous role as a lecturer at the prestigious Berlin School of Mind and Brain (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany) and as a recipient of the prestigious Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Talent Grant (2021) by the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands). She also serves as the Ethicist of AI at VERSES – a computing company based in Los Angeles.
Dr Brett J. Kagan is the Chief Scientific Officer at Cortical Labs. Cortical Labs is a multidisciplinary deep-tech startup looking at integrating hardware, software, and synthetic biology approaches to explore how to harness intelligence from neurons on a chip. Dr Kagan has a PhD in neuroscience focusing on stem cell therapy and completed post-doctoral work in bioinformatics and regenerative medicine. Recent work includes developing the first real-time closed-loop demonstration of in-vitro intelligence in a simplified pong-game environment, along with working to better test and understand these systems. Dr Kagan also explores the philosophical and ethical approaches to the development and use of this new technology.

When you listen to music, do you prefer lyrics or melody? Intricate harmonies or driving rhythm? The ‘real’ sounds of acoustic instruments or those of computerized synthesizers? In fact, we all have a unique set of musical preferences that resonate with different genres and artists. And beneficially, according to our book this month, by understanding your own preferences, you may be able to expand and deepen your relationship with music and with yourself.

Book: This Is What It Sounds Like - What the Music You Love Says About You (2022) by Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas.

In this book, Susan Rogers leads you on a journey into the science and soul of music that reveals the secrets of why your favourite songs move you. As well as being a professor of cognitive neuroscience, Rogers is also a multi-platinum record producer who worked on hits such as Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’. She explains that we each possess a unique ‘listener profile’ based on our brain’s reaction to seven key dimensions of any record: authenticity, realism, novelty, melody, lyrics, rhythm, and timbre. Exploring this profile, she claims, will deepen your connection to music, refresh your playlists, and uncover aspects of your personality.

As she explores the science of music and the brain, Rogers also takes us behind the scenes of record-making, using her insider's ear to illuminate the music of Prince, Frank Sinatra, Kanye West, Lana Del Rey, and many others. She shares records that changed her life, contrasts them with those that appeal to her co-author and students, and encourages you to think about the records that define your own identity.

While reading the book for this meetup is not compulsory, it is strongly encouraged to enable more focal points in our discussion. But Rogers has also done some presentations and interviews on the book. Some of them are linked below.

So join us for a drink (and optional meal) at 6.30pm Monday, September 2nd at the far-end of the 2nd floor at the Keg & Brew Hotel, Surrey Hills. (But keep an eye out as to whether there is any late move to the 1st floor, near the kitchen, which may occur if we have been gazumped on the 2nd floor due to a paid booking.) The Keg & Brew is close to Central Station and the Light Rail.

Hopefully, if the room is not too loud, we can share on our phones some music clips that move us.

Looking forward to seeing you.

p.s. PLEASE ADJUST YOUR RSVP if you have indicated that you will come but are no longer able to do so. This is courteous to people if there is a waitlist.

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Videos

• An online presentation on the book by Rogers (50 mins):