Enlightenment Now
Also known as Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
Steven Pinker's 2018 case that reason, science and humanism have made life better for most people.
At a glance
Key ideas
Life is getting better, Inequality is not wellbeing, Fear misleads …
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Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature and Bill Gates
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- Pinker argues that health, prosperity, safety, peace and happiness have tended to rise worldwide.
- He sets out 15 measures of human wellbeing to make the case.
- He credits liberal humanism and scientific rationality that took root in 17th- and 18th-century Europe.
- The last three chapters defend reason, science and humanism against fundamentalism, political correctness and postmodernism.
Why it matters
- A data-driven answer to the view that the world is in terrible shape, and a follow-up to The Better Angels of Our Nature.
Key facts
- Author
- Steven Pinker1
- Published
- 13 Feb 2018, Viking Press1
- Publication date
- Moved forward from 27 February 2018 after Bill Gates called it "my new favorite book"1
Key ideas
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Life is getting better1
On most measures, people live longer, healthier and richer lives than before.
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Inequality is not wellbeing1
Economic inequality "is not itself a dimension of human wellbeing"; the world as a whole is becoming more equal.
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Fear misleads1
An American is 3,000 times more likely to die in an accident than in a terrorist attack.
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Existential risk1
He calls existential risks a "useless category" and doubts accidental risk from artificial general intelligence.
Connections
Links
Sources
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