{"id":79732,"date":"2022-09-16T13:21:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-16T17:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=79732"},"modified":"2022-09-29T11:35:57","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T15:35:57","slug":"enlightenment-now-steven-pinker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/enlightenment-now-steven-pinker\/","title":{"rendered":"Enlightenment Now: Steven Pinker’s Appeal for Optimism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Is the world getting better or worse<\/a>? What does the data actually say? Is there cause for hope?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Enlightenment Now<\/em><\/a>, Steven Pinker argues that Enlightenment values<\/a> and modernization have contributed to gradually improving the world on \u201cevery single measure of human well-being.\u201d He says people tend to think the world is getting worse because of psychological biases<\/a> and errors in perception, but the data supports the conclusion that life for humans everywhere is getting better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading for an overview of Pinker’s New York Times<\/em> best seller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Enlightenment Now<\/em> by Steven Pinker<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Enlightenment Now<\/em>, Steven Pinker explains why our perceptions of a worsening world are wrong and provides statistics to challenge those misconceptions. Through presenting data on such factors as health, wealth, equality, human rights, happiness, peace, and freedom (among other measures), he explains how The Enlightenment\u2019s key ideas of reason, science, and humanism<\/a> are the driving forces behind progress<\/strong> in all these areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pinker is a professor of psychology at Harvard University. This book, published in 2018, follows The Better Angels of Our Nature<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>which examined questions around peace and violence, arguing that the world has gotten consistently more peaceful over time. Pinker has gained a wide following\u2014in 2004 he was named one of \u201cThe 100 Most Influential People in the World Today<\/a>\u201d by Time<\/em> magazine, and his TED Talk<\/a> presenting a synopsis of Enlightenment Now<\/em> has been viewed over 4 million times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll first explain what Enlightenment values are and where they come from, as well as what some of the prominent anti-Enlightenment<\/a> positions are. We\u2019ll then discuss Pinker\u2019s definition of \u201cprogress,\u201d and his explanation for why we tend to mistakenly think things are getting worse when they\u2019re actually getting better.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, we\u2019ll delve into the data Pinker presents to support his argument that the world is improving everywhere, on all measures, due to the ongoing impact of Enlightenment thinking. We\u2019ve reorganized Pinker\u2019s measures of progress into three categories of well-being: human, societal, and environmental.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Are Enlightenment Values?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Age of Enlightenment refers to a historical period in the 17th and 18th centuries when European intellectuals and philosophers were concerned with re-thinking social values and moving toward a more \u201cprogressive\u201d vision for humanity. This included thinking about the most rational<\/em> ways to go about organizing and governing society to maximize human well-being, including discussions of freedom, equality, and empirical truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The major theme tying all Enlightenment thinking together is reason<\/em>. <\/strong>But, according to Pinker, Enlightenment also implies science, humanism, and progress:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason<\/strong>: Pinker contrasts reason with religious faith and dogma, on which he says most pre-Enlightenment thinking was based. It\u2019s crucial to think through our beliefs, values, and social policies in a rational and logical way, rather than relying on feelings, intuition, or religious texts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Science<\/strong>: When we apply scientific methods to our beliefs, Pinker says, we can prove or disprove them. Therefore, he argues, the scientific method is necessary to generate knowledge that is reliable<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humanism<\/strong>: The Enlightenment is fundamentally associated with humanism, a system of thought that prioritizes the good of humanity over any divine or supernatural concerns. Pinker argues that humanism provides a secular basis for morality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Progress<\/strong>: Pinker defines progress as using reason, science, and humanism to better conditions for all of humanity<\/em>. He argues that progress is made by making changes in social institutions like laws and educational systems, not by trying to change anything in human nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anti-Enlightenment Positions<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Pinker identifies four anti-Enlightenment positions, which he sees as stalling the progress of humanity<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religion: <\/strong>Pinker sees religion as the most obvious of the anti-Enlightenment forces because belief in anything based on faith is inherently in conflict with belief based on reason and science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anti-scientism:<\/strong> Often overlapping with religious approaches, anti-science<\/a> stances claim that science is just another \u201cnarrative\u201d or myth. Pinker argues that continued scientific progress<\/a> is essential for human progress<\/a>, so anything that impedes science will necessarily stall human progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tribalism:<\/strong> Pinker defines tribalism as allegiance to a group and prioritizing that group above the individual. He argues that the idea that the good of the group matters more than the good of individuals is essentially counter to humanism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Declinism<\/a>:<\/strong> Pinker defines declinism as the belief that the modern world is declining in stability and on the verge of collapse. These ideas impede progress, Pinker explains, because they create a culture of pessimism and anti-technology<\/a> sentiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Progress?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The word \u201cimprove\u201d implies a value judgment and is therefore subjective. Who decides what\u2019s better? Some measures of \u201cimprovement\u201d are not obviously universally \u201cbetter.\u201d For example, the claim that wealth is inherently better than poverty can be challenged by pointing out that a person who is poor but happy is better off than a person who is wealthy but miserable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pinker argues that, to solve the dilemmas we face in the modern world, we simply need to push forward with reason, science, and humanism. He argues that people today who don\u2019t think life is all-around better than it was for humans in the past suffer from two problems:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. They have distorted perceptions<\/a> of the world, due to biases in what they see and how they think.<\/li>
  2. They\u2019re ungrateful for what they have because they\u2019re so disconnected from the unpleasant reality of what life in past societies was like.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Is the World Getting Better or Worse?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Pinker\u2019s major goal in this book is to counter the widespread belief that the world is getting worse by showing data that indicates it\u2019s actually improving on many measures. But, why do people think things are so bad if they\u2019re not? <\/strong>Pinker explains that this happens for a few intersecting reasons: media slant, cognitive biases<\/a>, and ingratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Media slant:<\/strong> Pinker explains that we tend to believe our societies are worse than they are because the media focus on negative news. But we must ask whether more negative things have actually been happening or whether news outlets are becoming more negative in what they focus on and how. Pinker says a look at the data clearly shows it\u2019s the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Cognitive biases:<\/strong> Pinker describes three cognitive biases that are at work in our brains, influencing us to think things in the world are getting worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n