Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress

ALSO BY STEVEN PINKER

Language Learnability and Language Development

Learnability and Cognition

The Language Instinct

How the Mind Works

Words and Rules

The Blank Slate

The Stuff of Thought

The Better Angels of Our Nature

Language, Cognition, and Human Nature: Selected Articles

The Sense of Style

EDITED BY STEVEN PINKER

Visual Cognition

Connections and Symbols (with Jacques Mehler)

Lexical and Conceptual Semantics (with Beth Levin)

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2004

VIKING

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Copyright © 2018 by Steven Pinker

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ISBN 9780525427575 (hardcover)

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ISBN 9780525559023 (international edition)

Version_1

TO

Harry Pinker (1928–2015)

optimist

Solomon Lopez (2017– )

and the 22nd century

Those who are governed by reason desire nothing for themselves which they do not also desire for the rest of humankind.

—Baruch Spinoza

Everything that is not forbidden by laws of nature is achievable, given the right knowledge.

—David Deutsch

CONTENTS

ALSO BY STEVEN PINKER

TITLE PAGE

COPYRIGHT

DEDICATION

EPIGRAPH

LIST OF FIGURES

PREFACE

PART I: ENLIGHTENMENT

CHAPTER 1. DARE TO UNDERSTAND!

CHAPTER 2. ENTRO, EVO, INFO

CHAPTER 3. COUNTER-ENLIGHTENMENTS

PART II: PROGRESS

CHAPTER 4. PROGRESSOPHOBIA

CHAPTER 5. LIFE

CHAPTER 6. HEALTH

CHAPTER 7. SUSTENANCE

CHAPTER 8. WEALTH

CHAPTER 9. INEQUALITY

CHAPTER 10. THE ENVIRONMENT

CHAPTER 11. PEACE

CHAPTER 12. SAFETY

CHAPTER 13. TERRORISM

CHAPTER 14. DEMOCRACY

CHAPTER 15. EQUAL RIGHTS

CHAPTER 16. KNOWLEDGE

CHAPTER 17. QUALITY OF LIFE

CHAPTER 18. HAPPINESS

CHAPTER 19. EXISTENTIAL THREATS

CHAPTER 20. THE FUTURE OF PROGRESS

PART III: REASON, SCIENCE, AND HUMANISM

CHAPTER 21. REASON

CHAPTER 22. SCIENCE

CHAPTER 23. HUMANISM

NOTES

REFERENCES

INDEX

LIST OF FIGURES

4-1: Tone of the news, 1945–2010

5-1: Life expectancy, 1771–2015

5-2: Child mortality, 1751–2013

5-3: Maternal mortality, 1751–2013

5-4: Life expectancy, UK, 1701–2013

6-1: Childhood deaths from infectious disease, 2000–2013

7-1: Calories, 1700–2013

7-2: Childhood stunting, 1966–2014

7-3: Undernourishment, 1970–2015

7-4: Famine deaths, 1860–2016

8-1: Gross World Product, 1–2015

8-2: GDP per capita, 1600–2015

8-3: World income distribution, 1800, 1975, and 2015

8-4: Extreme poverty (proportion), 1820–2015

8-5: Extreme poverty (number), 1820–2015

9-1: International inequality, 1820–2013

9-2: Global inequality, 1820–2011

9-3: Inequality, UK and US, 1688–2013

9-4: Social spending, OECD countries, 1880–2016

9-5: Income gains, 1988–2008

9-6: Poverty, US, 1960–2016

10-1: Population and population growth, 1750–2015 and projected to 2100

10-2: Sustainability, 1955–2109

10-3: Pollution, energy, and growth, US, 1970–2015

10-4: Deforestation, 1700–2010

10-5: Oil spills, 1970–2016

10-6: Protected areas, 1990–2014

10-7: Carbon intensity (CO2 emissions per dollar of GDP), 1820–2014

10-8: CO2 emissions, 1960–2015

11-1: Great power war, 1500–2015

11-2: Battle deaths, 1946–2016

11-3: Genocide deaths, 1956–2016

12-1: Homicide deaths, Western Europe, US, and Mexico, 1300–2015

12-2: Homicide deaths, 1967–2015

12-3: Motor vehicle accident deaths, US, 1921–2015

12-4: Pedestrian deaths, US, 1927–2015

12-5: Plane crash deaths, 1970–2015

12-6: Deaths from falls, fire, drowning, and poison, US, 1903–2014

12-7: Occupational accident deaths, US, 1913–2015

12-8: Natural disaster deaths, 1900–2015

12-9: Lightning strike deaths, US, 1900–2015

13-1: Terrorism deaths, 1970–2015

14-1: Democracy versus autocracy, 1800–2015

14-2: Human rights, 1949–2014

14-3: Death penalty abolitions, 1863–2016

14-4: Executions, US, 1780–2016

15-1: Racist, sexist, and homophobic opinions, US, 1987–2012

15-2: Racist, sexist, and homophobic Web searches, US, 2004–2017

15-3: Hate crimes, US, 1996–2015

15-4: Rape and domestic violence, US, 1993–2014

15-5: Decriminalization of homosexuality, 1791–2016