Dangerous Ideas

Thanks to Boing Boing for linking to this terrific Edge article wherein great minds from science and beyond are asked to describe their most dangerous ideas. Personal favorites:Judith Rich Harris's assertion that science has yet to demonstrate that parents have any power "to shape their child's personality, intelligence, or the way he or she behaves outside the family home." If she's right, Mom and Dad can put away all those baby Mozart CD's and start enjoying their time with Junior rather than fretting over his SAT scores.Ray Kurzweil's indefatigable optimism on the prospects of achieving massive life extension (if not outright immortality) within his (and more importantly your) lifetime.Lynn Margulis's poetic demonstration that "bacteria are conscious."Helen Fisher's cautionary tale about the dampening effects of anti-depressants on romantic love and other social bonds that tie us together as a society.Richard Dawkins' suggestion that we stop treating criminals through the paradigm of morality and start treating them as defective machines.And of course Susan Blackmore's weirdly non-pessimistic argument that "Everything is pointless."My own dangerous idea? Gender is a prison. And if you want to know why, you'll have to read my (as yet unfinished) young adult novel, Cycler.What dangerous ideas are currently brutalizing your internal landscape?P.S. Do yourselves a favor and check out Erica Depiero's new blog about her experiences in Banda Aceh. It's a must read.