Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker

This post has 16 comments with rating of 5/516

• 
  caesar963
  December 16th, 2019
  

  

  Pinker’s always worth a spin - counter-intuitive & counterfactual, and all that palaver.

  Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker
• 
  mr_mlt
  December 16th, 2019
  

  Pure drivel. Baaaa. Any sheep out there?

  Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker
• 
  ssafe05
  December 16th, 2019
  

  

  This is a wonderful read. Really makes you feel good about how the Enlightenment values have made this world a bit less nasty and brutish.

  Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker
• 
  caesar963
  December 16th, 2019
  

  Well…apart from those Enlightenment values which included “Scientific” racism; the extremism which led to the widespread bloodletting of the Terror in France; Rousseau’s concept of being forced to be free(?); Napoleon putting those murderous values into effect across the continent, all that backwash. While we celebrate the cool bits, we shouldn’t obscure the darkness of the Enlightenment (all accurately predicted by the esteemed Edmund Burke).

  Pinker’s superb on language. But the Pollyanna approach to progress? The Whiggish auguries were definitively and comprehensively refuted by the nasty & brutish reality of the 20th Century.
  So, a mild caution about being too previous with the misleading good feelz & warm fuzzies (although, far be it from me to be the decorated Captain Buzzkill of the campaign).

  Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker
• 
  edbroadway
  December 16th, 2019
  

  This was actually an excellent read, written by that EXTREMELY rare genus of men/women of Science who can write with elegance, sparkling aesthetic, but yet remain accessible while respectfully & faithfully adhering to the ethical codes and expectatives of the global Scientific Community. They still observe the ‘rigid format’, we’ve come to stereo typically expect of ‘the egg heads’, along with their use of logic and methodical approaches when penning on these rigorous disciplines and subject matter; which are already difficult enough to grasp, let alone explain them without becoming ‘literary Ambien’ ZZzz. Like Einstein said, “if you can not explain it to a six year-old, you don’t fully comprehend it yourself.” The book is packed with empirical facts. It is meticulously researched citing and referring established findings by the most eminent, credible Individuals in/of each respective topic and discipline he touched on. Pinker, then disseminates all this data with clarity, fluidity of explications, explanations,some use of humor, through contrast & the use of universal relatable examples, to foster familiarity; to give us that “ahhhhh okay!!” triumphant feeling after vanquishing a challenging, elusive and opaque intellectual endeavor: with Pinker it suddenly becomes clear, cogent and evident. HE executes & accomplishes with style, and in some discussions: with the precision of a poet and severity of an Emeritus Professor of where who cares. I did not for one moment discern any Pollyanna, hold-hands now and sing we are the world. He stated on just about every chapter the acknowledgment of the dark side of human nature, its reality and perpetuity because of its dominant biological ’strain’ present in ALL OF US, in wide varying degrees from imperceptible/innocuous to the full fledge Psychopath. Nothing Panglossian or Pollyanna there. He wanted us to stand back and observe the whole forest not just the trees, calmly, take a breath and as difficult as it is for us, for us to go out of our way to stay properly informed in easily accessible topics and data with what most gives us our biggest concerns, and that what we may find might surprise us for the good. Secondly, much like the other men of science gifted in prose, is an ardent and even optimistic hope to get us to be more Scientifically Literate; Which would be like an immunization vaccine, against those Pervasive Pathogens of fake news/spinsters, confusion on what to take as fact or fiction, to know better that climate change is NOT A FLUKE…Mentally armed, your mind is your 9 mm. We owe debt of gratitude to the men of science who chose to share their gift of prose to teach us, stoke our appetite and imagination on subjects we slept through in school or thought we would never get inch worth of understanding of it. It’s why we LOVE Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan (after his masterful, gorgeous soliloquy in CH.2 in “Pale Blue Dot” who can argue this), Richard Dawkins!!, E.O Wilson 2x Pulitzer Prize winner who’s works are written by blow torch or a Gold quail-feather (got snubbed on the Nobel for Literature and pissed off legions),the warm Oliver Sacks, etc etc.

  Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker
• 
  edbroadway
  December 16th, 2019
  

  

  sorry! commas, proper punctuation, and other grammatical instrumentations took the day off on me today. Lmao forgive me, and the long windedness.

  Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker
• 
  chrisxiii
  December 17th, 2019
  

  Of course, those “enlightenment values” have deep Judeo-Christian roots (but let’s ignore that :D

  Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker
• 
  caesar963
  December 17th, 2019
  

  Respect, ed, no doubt about it - Pinker is a great, engaging, entertaining writer & communicator, not at all dry. Regarding Steven Pinker qua optimist: it’s correct to observe that human nature ain’t changing, at least not in the short/medium (or long) terms. As for “progress” or “progressiveness” the fascist/Marxists of the catastrophic 20th Century (our bloodiest) would’ve enthused & enlarged smugly about all the “progress” they were making, as they “progressively” thinned the herd with extreme prejudice. My point being that civilisation can, in no time at all, take 1000 steps back, a salient factor which was never within the contemplation of the Panglossian Whigs. As a Jewish person, Steven should certainly be aware of these potential, overwhelmingly adverse, developments. The greatest enormities have occurred within living memory. I had the same reservations in respect of The Better Angels of Our Nature, a companion work.

  Mental health & IQ levels are declining in the West, rates of depression are increasing (particularly amongst the young), as is dependence upon legal & illegal drugs. Apart from all that, everything’s just fine (especially when you’re off yer despondent tits on Chronic).

  Things where I live - and I don’t doubt, where Steven lives also - are nice & salubrious. Remarkable how much this can shape our perspectives (we’re all too human). More troublesome to reflect on the countless multitudes worldwide with not enough food, adequate shelter, clean water or medication. When one is constructing & contriving a thesis, one seeks out data which supports that thesis. Such data has a marked tendency to emerge quite prominently during one’s researches & investigations, sometimes at the expense of manifestly contrary data. You might refer to/perceive this as a species of academic prestidigitation, or scholarly legerdemain.

  Similarly, we can’t process data which we don’t have. Even in countries with sophisticated measures, great proportions of very serious, violent crime goes under- or unreported. This includes violent domestic abuse; rape (because investigative & justice outcomes are so poor - extremely difficult crime to prove); child sexual abuse - as the vast majority takes place within families, behind closed doors, clandestine, intensely challenging to prove - most cases are historic. As for the consequences of our recreational nasal candy, etc. - well those tragic effects are not really felt within our nice, middle-class communities.

  Then we have the data problem from entire countries & cultures which are deeply secretive, and where the State itself is often the main malefactor (Islamic states - official & unofficial treatment of women & homosexuals; Marxist & developing countries). For these nations, declaring that there are real social problems would be a serious blot on the escutcheon, and a traumatic blow to their international prestige. So, you’ll appreciate how great things can look if the crimes are said not to even exist. Of course, the crime stats are massaged & dubiously titivated even in First World countries.

  Steven Pinker, like the ill-advised Doc Frankenstein, seems of late to be seeking to galvanically revivify the unsightly collection of cadaverous tissue known as Whig history. But it’s dead meat, it won’t fly. Altogether far too many corpses which function as manifestly contrary, countervailing data. My heart nevertheless agrees with him.

  Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker
• 
  dreamseer2
  December 17th, 2019
  

  Well said gentleman. Its always nice to see the opinions of thinking men, and of course many thanks are due to the largess of those that take the time and effort to bestow such treats upon us.

  Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker
• 
  willemjvw
  December 17th, 2019
  

  Let us not discriminately neglect to salute the altruism and virtuous endeavors of Audiobookbay for granting these insatiable literati and capricious spokesmen, nay, spokespersons, a canvas upon which they may pontificate in hues inspired.

  Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker
• 
  caesar963
  December 17th, 2019
  

  Hear ye, hear ye! It’s a great resource with generous contributors.

  Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker
• 
  audiobookpiracyaccount
  December 28th, 2019
  

  It may be that IQ levels on average are declining, but that doesn’t seem to be the case for members of this esteemed community.

  Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker
• 
  reclamito
  April 2nd, 2022
  

  Wow!

  Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker
• 
  mwara74
  September 11th, 2023
  

  It is a lot easier to get what I want now than it was when I was born (where I live in Kenya). I find Steven Pinker’s ideas on progress to really hold water. All I have to do to confirm is ask my kids how old they were when they first saw a dead body (never yet, & they approach 18). I really value getting to hear all this thinking man’s evidence. Thank you audiobookbay!

  Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker
• 
  digdawg
  October 15th, 2023
  

  

  Thanks for sharing such useful material. SO done with the flood on insane post-modern drive. Nice to have something to read that is backed up by REALITY and REASON. Post-modern tantrum ranting based upon emotional mysticism sux azz.

  Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker
• 
  bfirth
  January 6th, 2025
  

  

  For all the people who think that any of the positive views in this book are misleading good feels & warm fuzzies, Pinker goes to great lengths to quote the actual statistics that prove his statements.

  He also supplies a very detailed document of graphs of these facts. It’s now the 21st century, and this book is about reality and reason, the world’s not perfect but living in past times has always been worse.

  Enlightenment Now The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress - Steven Pinker

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