. Healthy skepticism is a positive approach to dealing with the constant onslaught of the overwhelming amount of data and seemingly conflicting claims we often encounter in our lives. Is caffeine good for you? Red wine? Is the pain killer you are taking dangerous? Is climate change a hoax, or a boondoggle? This book will help you navigate the issues that generate these questions, and many others. And it will challenge you to take part. Not just as consumers of technology, and participants in the electoral process. Yes, we must be informed to participate responsibly as voters and consumers, but we must also be prepared to participate in discussions about ethics and the directions of scientific research. The world is changing faster than ever before, and the frontiers of research are pushing us ever closer to possibilities that challenge our world and our humanity. Will artificial intelligence surpass our own? Will we become one with our machines? Will we guide our own evolution? Will we live forever? Are we poisoning our planet? Will we survive? You must decide. You must weigh the evidence and participate in the process. Yes, as voters and consumers, but also as shapers of public opinion and societal consciousness. Each chapter of this book will apply a healthy skepticism to the broad areas of science that impact our lives. We'll talk a lot about advances in medicine and the frontiers in biotechnology that will require societal willpower to make ethical decisions. We'll talk about advances in physics that are driving technology to a point that boggles the mind. We'll talk about climate change, evolution, consciousness, nanotechnology, and more. But we'll also try to answer some ancient questions. Where did it all come from? Who are we? How do we fit in the world? And how can science possibly answer these fundamental questions? Each chapter will provide the background and information necessary to frame these issues in a way that will allow you to participate. I have chosen topics that define the frontiers of our knowledge and our relationship with nature, including our own. Each chapter approaches topics historically, philosophically, and practically. I will ask more questions than I answer, because the purpose of this book is to encourage you to participate, and not remain passive. After reading this book, you will be armed with the healthy skepticism to help change the world. There are a few rules for reading this book. You may rather think of them as suggestions, because you can follow them or not. They are simply designed to offer a way with the flow of ideas presented in a more personalized way.1.on the topics and to provide some insight and background behind some of my statements. You may want to watch the videos, or read the articles cited, and then come back to this book. 2.These links along with additional suggested reading will be included at the end of each chapter.3.There are also foreshadowing clues. You may want to jump ahead and read the sections later in the book and then return.4.Keep in mind, this book is already out of date. Things change so fast that there is no way the information in any book can be the latest. Rather, this book is intended to be an instruction manual for how to become engaged and stay engaged with the exciting and treacherous changes in store.5.This book is also woefully inaccurate (foreshadow clue #1, go to page 53). In order to present the topics in this book, I will summarize and encapsulate many big ideas. As with any topic, the level of accuracy is directly proportional to the level of precision. Since I cannot be precise, I will undoubtedly provide generalizations that could be quibbled with.6.I will try my best to point out when the inaccuracies presented are potentially problematic, and how to consider these statements and topics within the correct level