Roundtable discussions among scientists and philosophers explore trends such as creativity, technology, and cosmology. CONTRIBUTORS Paul R. Abramson W. French Anderson Francisco Ayala Gregory Benford Barry Beyerstein Edward de Bono Todd Boyd Warren S. Brown Charles Buchanan Vern Bullough Stephen J. Cannell David J. Chalmers Bruce Chapman Patricia Smith Churchland Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Arthur S. De Vany Edward Feigenbaum Timothy Ferris Wendy Freedman Robert Freeman Francis Fukuyama George Geis Rochel Gelman Barbara Marx Hubbard Rhoda Janzen Saru Jayaraman John Kao Steven Koonin Bart Kosko George Kozmetsky Ray Kurzweil Leon Lederman Andrei Linde John H. McWhorter Marvin Minsky Graham T. Molitor Richard Mouw Nancey C. Murphy Bruce C. Murray Sherwin Nuland Clifford Penner Joyce Penner Dean I. Radin Marilyn Schlitz John R. Searle Todd Siler Brian Skyrms Gregory Stock Charles Tart Frank J. Tipler Allan J. Tobin James Trefil Neil de Grasse Tyson Roy Walford Fred Alan Wolf An insatiable desire to fathom the workings of the natural world and the meaning of existence is as fundamental to our species as walking upright or having the capacity to love. Yet, throughout most of human history, only a select handful of people in each generation had the ability and good fortune to participate in the grand discourses of philosophy and science. Closer to Truth harnesses the intellectual energy of more than fifty of today's most influential minds to offer an exciting, in-depth exploration of today's most important trends in science, philosophy, and human understanding. Over the course of twenty-eight lively roundtable discussions, these scientists, philosophers, and visionaries share their intriguing insights on a vast array of timely intellectual issues ranging from consciousness to cosmology, sexuality to soul, evolution to education. No other source brings you inside the major debates now raging within lecture halls and research labs around the world with such immediacy or candor. Nor does any feature such an impressive roster of contributors. In orchestrating Closer to Truth both the public television series and the bookDr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn has assembled a veritable Who's Who in the world of ideas, from the mainstream to the avant-garde, all brought together in electric combinations that spark with light and heat. In so doing, he has provided us with an unparalleled opportunity to watch these intellectual all-stars in action and discover where each stands on many of today's most controversial "knowledge" issues, including the workings of the brain and mind, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, longevity, sex and gender, the beginnings and endings of the universe, the nature of consciousness, and the beauty of quantum physics. Closer to Truth is pioneering a new genre of media called "Knowledge Affairs," and is the program of record for new knowledge. While this book does not claim to provide ultimate answers to the great questions, by affording a unique opportunity to sample from the "competitive marketplace of ideas," it will bring you Closer to Truth. ALLAN--While genomics, gene therapy, and germ-line manipulation are important to discuss, I think that some of the human qualities we're talking about are unlikely to result from genetic determination. I find it curious that society has embraced the idea that things like mysticism or morality or ambidextrousness might be genetically based rather than cultural. To hear professors proclaim that their cleverness is genetically determined--present company excepted, of course--reminds me of Max Weber's argument about Calvinism: that somehow, by proving we're among the elect--proving we have good genes--that justifies us. ROBERT--Where would you draw the line? SHEP--But Francisco, we've already been told. Did you listen to that list of supposed enhancements that Robert referred to in his introduction. Every one of them was not just a positive attribute but an egotistical positive attribute. I keep thinking of the year that my daughter was about to go off to a secondary school. The headmaster sent us each a form that included the question, "Is your child a leader?" And I wrote down, "No, but she's a great follower." The answer I got back said, "Dear Dr. Nuland: This is wonderful. We have 399 leaders in the class and one follower." What's the free choice? Who will get these genetic enhancements? Think about the differences in medical care we already have in this world. When we start adding genetic enhancement, we'll magnify that problem. FRENCH-- We can't dictate what our society might want to do a hundred years from now. That society might want to take genes like we take vitamins, but that would be their business. Our duty is to go into the era of genetic engineering in as responsible a way as possible, and that is to use genetic engineering strictly for the treatment of serious disease and for no other reason. Now, what's a serious disease? What's a minor