But What If We're Wrong?: Thinking About the Present as If It Were the Past
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But What If We're Wrong?: Thinking About the Present as If It Were the Past Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Chuck Klosterman (Author, Narrator), Fiona Hardingham (Narrator), Penguin Audio (Publisher)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 1,875 ratings
Editors' pick Best Nonfiction
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New York Times best-selling author

But What If We're Wrong? visualizes the contemporary world as it will appear to those who'll perceive it as the distant past. Chuck Klosterman asks questions that are profound in their simplicity: How certain are we about our understanding of gravity? How certain are we about our understanding of time? What will be the defining memory of rock music 500 years from today? How seriously should we view the content of our dreams? How seriously should we view the content of television? Are all sports destined for extinction? Is it possible that the greatest artist of our era is currently unknown (or - weirder still - widely known but entirely disrespected)? Is it possible that we "overrate" democracy? And perhaps most disturbing, is it possible that we've reached the end of knowledge? Klosterman visualizes the contemporary world as it will appear to those who'll perceive it as the distant past.

Kinetically slingshotting through a broad spectrum of objective and subjective problems, But What If We're Wrong? is built on interviews with a variety of creative thinkers - George Saunders, David Byrne, Jonathan Lethem, Kathryn Schulz, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Greene, Junot Díaz, Amanda Petrusich, Ryan Adams, Nick Bostrom, Dan Carlin, and Richard Linklater, among others - interwoven with the type of high-wire humor and nontraditional analysis only Klosterman would dare to attempt. It's a seemingly impossible achievement: a book about the things we cannot know, explained as if we did. It's about how we live now, once "now" has become "then".

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  1. Listening Length
    10 hours and 7 minutes
  2. Author
    Chuck Klosterman
  3. Narrator
    Chuck Klosterman, see all
  4. Audible release date
    June 7, 2016
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Penguin Audio
  7. ASIN
    B01D0I6P6G
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 10 hours and 7 minutes
Author Chuck Klosterman
Narrator Chuck Klosterman, Fiona Hardingham
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date June 07, 2016
Publisher Penguin Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B01D0I6P6G
Best Sellers Rank #35,186 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#35 in Future Studies
#67 in Literary Essays
#72 in Popular Culture Studies

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
1,875 global ratings
Worth a read, but physically missing some sections
3 Stars
Worth a read, but physically missing some sections
I'm a big Chuck Klosterman fan and have read most of his books. Overall, I appreciate his theme with this book, that we're probably wrong about some of our most deeply held beliefs. He's got some great interviews in there. However, the writing isn't as crisp and funny as his other collections of pop culture essays, I wish he would have provided more of a point of view rather than summarizing other peoples' thoughts. Also, I pre-ordered the book and there was a serious publication glitch where 30 pages of the book are missing and two sections repeat themselves (see attached picture). The book is worth a read, assuming all of the pages are there.
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Top reviews from the United States

Kid Kyoto
5.0 out of 5 stars Who will be remembered? Who will be forgotten? Do we really understand the world?
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2017
Verified Purchase
This short, thought-provoking book ranges widely from politics to music to physics but always returns to the main question of 'what if we are wrong'.

There are countless cases in history of widely-held beliefs about culture, philosophy and even the nature of the world being overturned almost overnight. Artists unknown in their time are celebrated today as unsung geniuses while the giants of those ages are forgotten. Which raises the question, what do we think, believe or know today that will be proven false tomorrow?

It's a good question and there isn't necessarily an answer in here but that's fine because it does make us think. I first learned of this book when one chapter was reprinted in a magazine. It asked the question 300 years from now, when rock and roll is as historical and irrelevant as, say, opera, who will historians hold up as the example of rock, who will be remembered?

Now ask the same question about television.

Or any other aspect of our lives.

Are the Grammy, Emmy and Oscar winners really the most important works of art in the world today? If not, what is?

Klosterman also asks the equally challenging question, what if we're right? Yes people once believed the world was flat and were proven wrong. But that sort of scientific revolution has become rarer as we've shared more information and established methods, so what if this is it? What if our understanding of the world is it, and there are no more revolutions?

Again he doesn't have answers but there's a lot to chew on here.

Klosterman's style is very friendly, he sprinkles in self-deprecating humor and personal anecdotes throughout which keeps this book from being too heavy. I found it a perfect read for a long plane trip.

I recommend it.
20 people found this helpful
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Seth Angel
4.0 out of 5 stars Great fun.
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2018
Verified Purchase
I love this book. Like all Klosterman books it's fun, nerdy, and chock full of pop culture references. This one has the added benefit of having a lot of interviews with scientists and sociologists outside of his normal range of expertise. My only letdown¹ is that there wasn't a clear answer when he wrapped up his rambling thoughts. Spolier alert but at the end the conclusion of whether or not we're wrong is probably but what exactly we're wrong about is anyone's guess. Still though, it was a great thought experiment and fun to read.

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¹ Honestly I don't know what I thought he would say
4 people found this helpful
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Joey L.
5.0 out of 5 stars ... Klosterman's newest book "But What if We're Wrong" is awesome. Its out there but it continues a trend ...
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2016
Verified Purchase
Chuck Klosterman's newest book "But What if We're Wrong" is awesome. Its out there but it continues a trend I find with him where reading his writing is almost like finding a better articulated and more edited version of some of my deep meandering thoughts. but maybe even more so in this book because of the topic. Guess i'm admitting i too am out there ;)

The general question he asks is this: What will future generations see when they view this generation? What books will be studied from our century (as he puts it, who is going to be our century's kafka)? What about music; what will really define "rock n roll", or the even less defined genre of "Rock"? And as the title suggests: what if we're wrong about what we think is defining our generation? It seems we think history repeats itself, but then how could we ever predict how different today is compared to even 50 yrs ago?

When he starts to delve into the sciences, he tackles the idea of paradigm shifts (taken from Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions) and the question of what can we expect next. This is where its almost freakish how similar this section gets with what i discuss in some of my honors classes (i.e. can we make predictions? Will we see the atom? Will we see the proton? Will we see the strings?)

Highly recommending this book to all, sciencey or non sciency peeps. There are interviews with some amazing people: rockstar scientisits Neal De Grass Tyson, Brian Greene, director Robert Linklater, talking heads founder David Byrne, authors Jonathan Lethem and Junot Diaz and more. There are some classic Klosterman off the wall theories about pop culture (probably my favorite part is his coming to the conclusion that the tv show Roseanne may be what future generations will study when looking at the definitive 20th century television programming) and how the future might view it, there is some conspiracy theories, a lot of well crafted "let's pretend" scenarios, and most importantly there is a lot of epistemological questions that at the end of the day make for the difference between living without.

To the negative reviewers: much of what you say is that you felt that it rambled, lost its way, provided no strong foundation for the arguments....
Unfortunately, epistemology is often characterized by that.
Even Klosterman discusses this in the book: as he puts it the difference between a physicist and a philosopher is the difference between what and why? (one cares about what is the cause, the other about the meaning behind it)

Thank you Chuck for putting in the time with this one. Seems you spent quite sometime interviewing, researching, and you put together a great read. Maybe not the definitive book of this generation (hahaha, sorry) but still an excellent book.
8 people found this helpful
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Michael
3.0 out of 5 stars Worth a read, but physically missing some sections
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2016
Verified Purchase
I'm a big Chuck Klosterman fan and have read most of his books. Overall, I appreciate his theme with this book, that we're probably wrong about some of our most deeply held beliefs. He's got some great interviews in there. However, the writing isn't as crisp and funny as his other collections of pop culture essays, I wish he would have provided more of a point of view rather than summarizing other peoples' thoughts. Also, I pre-ordered the book and there was a serious publication glitch where 30 pages of the book are missing and two sections repeat themselves (see attached picture). The book is worth a read, assuming all of the pages are there.
Customer image
Michael
3.0 out of 5 stars Worth a read, but physically missing some sections
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2016
I'm a big Chuck Klosterman fan and have read most of his books. Overall, I appreciate his theme with this book, that we're probably wrong about some of our most deeply held beliefs. He's got some great interviews in there. However, the writing isn't as crisp and funny as his other collections of pop culture essays, I wish he would have provided more of a point of view rather than summarizing other peoples' thoughts. Also, I pre-ordered the book and there was a serious publication glitch where 30 pages of the book are missing and two sections repeat themselves (see attached picture). The book is worth a read, assuming all of the pages are there.
Images in this review
Customer image
Customer image
4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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alistair calderon
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book! Or was it? Only three hundred years from now we will know.
Reviewed in Canada on November 24, 2022
Verified Purchase
Such a crisp and cool artistic voice. Although it leaps around a bit it hits its intended target.
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Rubens
2.0 out of 5 stars Não recomendo...
Reviewed in Brazil on February 12, 2017
Verified Purchase
Apesar do título sugestivo e um bom começo, o livro parece perder o foco e até mesmo o sentido a medida que as páginas vão passando.
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Giova amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars right or wrong?
Reviewed in Italy on June 10, 2017
Verified Purchase
The author use a question mark. The answer is an exclamation point: yes, we are wrong.
absolutely a recommended reading
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Praneet Bhushan
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in India on December 13, 2016
Verified Purchase
EXCELLENT BOOK
2 people found this helpful
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Clinton
4.0 out of 5 stars I liked it, but I could be a wrong
Reviewed in Australia on December 26, 2019
Verified Purchase
In a world where we tend to consume things that reinforce our viewpoint it’s interesting to read something that comes from a perspective other than “I am always right” - even taking the title as a piece of philosophy for every day living could be a useful approach. But I could be wrong.
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