Challenging Nature: The Clash Between Biotechnology and Spirituality (Ecco)
by Lee M. Silver
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Book Summary Information
Author: Lee M. SilverEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-08-01
ISBN: 0060582685
Number of pages: 464
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Book Reviews of Challenging Nature: The Clash Between Biotechnology and Spirituality (Ecco)
Book Review: Science, faith and opinion, evenly mixed
Summary: 2 Stars
Silver announces early on in this book that in it he is traveling far outside his field of expertise. This becomes obvious early on and has advantages and disadvantages. He brings together a fascinating potpourri of information from biology, biotechnology, agriculture, religion and many other fields; in many places, this makes for a good general interest read, especially where he describes some of the most recent developments in biotechnology.
On the other hand, there are an alarming number of outright factual mistakes or distortions. A few examples: He conflates "modern democracy" with rule-less competition (p. 221); a double error as he both fails to distinguish democracy, a political system, and capitalism, an economic one, and ignores the fact that modern Western capitalism is very far from offering "rule-less competition". Further examples: his claim that "Asian" cultures do not believe in a God ignores Islamic Asia, while his immediately following claim that such cultures have no objections to gene-modified foods ignores two of the most significant non-Islamic Asian societies: Japan has taken a ferociously anti-GM food stance and India has avoided their use. There are also erroneous citations and falsifications of context (p. 229) as well as egregious distortions, such as when he adds the word "genetic" to a citation in a manner that clearly falsifies this (p. 332).
Silver's own speculations and sheer statements of conviction play a large role in the book. He describes what he supposes to be the motivations that drove Easter Islanders to erect their statues, for example, as matters of fact, though he immediately after states that even the present-day inhabitants do not know why their ancestors did so. Such speculations are problematic on two grounds. One, he doesn't clearly differentiate speculation from empirically-grounded information; this is astonishing given his scientific training, and reveals the danger of experts talking confidently outside their fields of expertise. (Another example of the latter: his happy suggestion that we replace the (obviously scientifically impossible) immaterial soul with an equally immaterial ("epiphenomenal") consciousness only makes the reader painfully aware of Silver's lack of grounding in modern philosophy and psychology.)
Secondly, his speculations are, essentially, matters of faith for him, all the more painful given his loud announcements of his disdain for (others') faith. Significant parts of the book are devoted to denying the value of others' convictions, and frequently arrogantly so; the comment "Mysticism, however, does survive in some people who have enough scientific training to know better." (p. 53) is unfortunately typical.
The fascinating collection of material he brings together nearly redeems this patchwork; a book, however, only to be recommended to those who can take the interstitial commentary with a large pinch of salt.
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