Speculation: A Cultural History from Aristotle to AI

We still resort to speculation in the modern world because it has played a crucial role in how we create and potentially destroy the future, despite advances in scientific and statistical reasoning. Gayle Rogers' book explores debates over speculation from antiquity to the present, arguing that what has always been at stake is the authority to produce and control knowledge about the future.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 264 pages
\n Publication date: 06 July 2021
\n Publisher: Columbia University Press
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In the modern world, we continue to engage in speculation despite the advancements in scientific and statistical reasoning that are supposed to bring greater certainty to our claims about the future. We persist in spinning out scenarios about tomorrow, for ourselves and for entire societies, often based on flimsy or no evidence. These insubstantial speculations, ranging from utopian thinking to high-risk stock gambles, often provoke fierce backlash, even when they prove prophetic of the world we eventually inhabit.

Why does this hypothetical way of thinking generate such controversy? In this comprehensive cultural, literary, and intellectual history, Gayle Rogers explores the debates over speculation from antiquity to the present. Initially celebrated as the pinnacle of human mental powers by Boethius, speculation was later denounced as sinful by John Calvin. However, it eventually became central to the scientific revolutions new methods of understanding the natural world.

In the nineteenth century, writers like Jane Austen used the concept of speculation to diagnose the marriage market, redefining it as a tool for social critique. Speculation played a significant role in the development of modern capitalism, driving booms, busts, and bubbles, and more recently, artificial intelligence has automated the speculation previously done by humans, raising uncertain and troubling consequences.

Unraveling these histories and many other disputes, Rogers argues that what has always been at stake in arguments over speculation is the authority to produce and control knowledge about the future. This book offers a fresh perspective on centuries of contests over the power to anticipate tomorrow, revealing the crucial role that speculation has played in shaping our ability to create and potentially destroy the future.

\n Weight: 370g\n
Dimension: 152 x 227 x 18 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780231200219\n \n