Counterknowledge - Hardcover

Thompson, Damian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393067696 ISBN 13: 9780393067699

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co., 2013

Synopsis

We are being swamped with dangerous nonsense. From 9/11 conspiracy theories to Holocaust denial to alternative medicine, we are all experiencing an epidemic of demonstrably untrue descriptions of the world. For Damian Thompson, the misinformation industry is wreaking havoc on the once-lauded virtues of science and reason. Unproven theories and spurious claims are forms of "counterknowledge," and, helped by the Internet, they are creating a global generation of misguided adherents who repeat these untruths and lend them credence. Thompson explores our readiness to accept falsehoods and the viral role of technology in spreading quack remedies, pseudo-history, and creationist fanaticism. Following in the footsteps of Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion, Sam Harris's The End of Faith, and Christopher Hitchens's God Is Not Great, Counterknowledge is a brilliant defense of scientific proof in an age of fabrication.

About this title

Review:

"'Damian Thompson's extraordinary book is literally a revelation... Superb and often breathtaking.' J. G. Ballard, Daily Telegraph"

Book Description:

We are being overwhelmed by nonsense about science, medicine and history. False information - 'counterknowledge' - has reached epidemic proportions. This hard-hitting and controversial book leads the fight back.

'A wonderfully clear-sighted and intellectually exciting polemic... Thompson's demolition of every fatuous illusion is brilliantly exact and often very witty... A splendid, short sharp shock of a book.' Mail On Sunday

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co.
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0393067696
• ISBN 13: 9780393067699
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176