Rebecca Costa

I don't agree with all of Rebecca Costa's ideas in The Watchman's Rattle.  But I do think she is an innovative thinker and I appreciate the notion that our biological limitations affect our ability to solve today's biggest problems.  That makes perfect sense.  Her section on supermemes where she talks about how our attitudes and beliefs keep us from moving forward and progressing as a society also makes sense. And I particularly appreciated the mention of the President's Science Advisory Committee under Truman and Eisenhower.  That was an organization that allowed for unbiased discussion with the President on the nation's most pressing issues.  We need this kind of unbiased bi-partisan discussion today in the White House and in government in general.  Too much time is spent on one party's political agenda so that nothing gets accomplished.  But if we had a forum for some intelligent thinkers, people who work in the sciences, in engineering, in education to discuss our most pressing issues — without being concerned about how their opinions might be received by the public or biased by political agenda — perhaps then we might be able to find better solutions.  This is what Rebecca Costa suggests in her book, and with that I agree wholeheartedly.  It's a book worth reading, not because you will agree with everything in it, but because you will be reminded of your responsibility to be a thinking human being.