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Enlightenment Now

the Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
Apr 06, 2018tomdance rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Join me and get inspired by what Bill Gates calls his new “favorite book of all time.” Despite the onslaught of negative & extremist daily news, deliberately sensationalized to sell more ads, I’ve found deep philosophical hope in this book of the decade: "Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress" (2018), by Steven Pinker. At the heart of the book is trustworthy peer-reviewed science in every chapter, showing how far our species has come from homicidal warring tribes in the past, to the present relatively-safe large countries with various systems of rule of law enforcing a civil and human rights, mostly better than ever before. Sure, humans have a lot of problems still to fix (such as voting down fact-free far-right populist demagogues, and ignoring the idealistically-impractical & anti-trade extreme left), but this book reminds us to see more clearly how far humans have progressed worldwide (in terms of lifespan, health, safety, pollution control, human rights, wealth, happiness, etc), in historical perspective, in the past 150 years, especially in the past generation. (I believe that international engagement via trade and participation in the evolving United Nations is critical for the future of human rights & civic progress. International peer pressure may help enforce more universal humanism and freedom balanced with civic responsibilities.)