But the way to deal with them is not to sink into despair or try to lurch back to a mythical idyllic past it's to treat them as problems we can solve, as we have solved other problems in the past.

The challenges we face today are formidable, including inequality, climate change, Artificial Intelligence and nuclear weapons. These are the values of the Enlightenment: of reason, science, humanism and progress. Such progress is no accident: it's the gift of a coherent and inspiring value system that many of us embrace without even realizing it.

If you follow the trendlines rather than the headlines, you discover that our lives have become longer, healthier, safer, happier, more peaceful, more stimulating and more prosperous - not just in the West, but worldwide. Yet Steven Pinker shows that this is an illusion - a symptom of historical amnesia and statistical fallacies. If you follow the headlines, the world in the 21st century appears to be sinking into chaos, hatred, and irrationality. Is modernity really failing? Or have we failed to appreciate progress and the ideals that make it possible? The characters and their world come alive,Īnd the characters and its world still live on.Ĭonversation Starters is peppered with questions designed toĪnd invite us into the world that lives on.'Bristles with pure, crystalline intelligence, deep knowledge and human sympathy' Richard Dawkins This optimistic focus is one of the reasons this has become Bill Gates' 'new favorite book of all time.'ĮVERY GOOD BOOK CONTAINS A WORLD FAR DEEPER

By using over 70 graphs he demonstrates in no uncertain terms how people are living longer, healthier, better lives. Pinker challenges the idea that we are in an increasing global crisis and that our future is bleak, his view is that the world is improving, and this book is his proof. As the subtitle says Pinker advocates, 'the case for reason, science, humanism, and progress'. Enlightenment Now: by Steven Pinker | Conversation StartersĮnlightenment Now, Steven Pinker's new book is a refreshing, new perspective on the situation of the world in general.

Pinker enlightenment