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Enlightenment Now

The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress

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About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker, read by Arthur Morey. Includes a bonus PDF of graphs.

Is modernity really failing? Or have we failed to appreciate progress and the ideals that make it possible? If you follow the headlines, the world in the 21st century appears to be sinking into chaos, hatred and irrationality. Yet, as Steven Pinker shows, if you follow the trendlines, you discover that our lives have become longer, healthier, safer and more prosperous - not just in the West but worldwide.

Such progress is no accident: it's the gift of a coherent value system that many of us embrace without even realising it. These are the values of the Enlightenment: of reason, science, humanism and progress. The challenges we face today are formidable. 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. This is the case for an Enlightenment newly recharged for the 21st century.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2018 Steven Pinker (P)2018 Penguin Audio Consciousness & Thought Movements Philosophy Political Science Politics & Government Science Society
One of my finest experience - mind blowing ! Would be listening this all over soon

Arthur Morey has delivered Steven Pinker perfectly

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One does not have to agree with every point made by the author to recognise the monumental relevance of this oeuvre to today’s world. May many deniers and myth believers read it.

A good story

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I was enlightened reading this! A fantastic read for everyone who want to be optimist about the future, given the pessimism around us.

Fantastic

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The quality and depth of Steven pinker among different subject is widely acknowledged. I m reading it after Better angels of our nature. it seems like a sequel to it.
just a little catch...steven pinker writes in a very nuanced and precise language, he is too erudite which becomes a problem for even people who are widely read. so go ahead to buy the book, while keeping the above description...

Very enlightening...indeed...

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Very rational viewpoint. but far too long. Message could be conveyed in half the length.

Very rational viewpoint.

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excellent book. good narration. very long though. every chapter is like reading a book on that topic. very positive and optimistic book to read in these trouble times when everyday news is depressing.

Great book

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compelling arguments to make us feel less pessimistic about the world and so make us work more towards improvement rather than moan

compelling

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World is not a bad place after all. This book has done a good job in explaining in detail with studies backing it. A positive book which gives hope to the listerner or reader about mankind's future.

Good book with positive vibes

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Enlightenment seeded reasoning and quest for the ultimate truth of reality in humanity. We continue to gain from Enlightenment for centuries, while lot of the Unenlightened & the Darkened are trying to contain the complete diffusion of Enlightenment! The saga continues!

Diffusion of Reasoning through Humanity

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You pick up your digital device to read the news and end up with this malaise that seeps deeper every time you sift through yet another breaking news headline. In short, the world is a shitty place and we’re all doomed. But, is it really? Yes and no. But as the author argues, we live in the best of times all things considered. Sure, there are bad things happening all around us but stepping back centuries, the data shows that we’ve progressed in an unprecedented manner. On measures such as human rights, terrorism, war, medicine, etc, it has been shown in the book that humanity has been constantly progressing and there’s good evidence that it’ll continue to do so.

This book has also been excoriated for misleading information on certain topics, including climate change, to cite one example. Another example, one that I personally encountered would be the discussion on inequality in the book. The author uses Singapore as an example about how inequality has little effect on a society but it goes directly against what was depicted in This Is What Inequality Looks Like which talks about how inequality really affects people, in Singapore, no less. This has led to many experts publicly denouncing the book.

Taking all of the above into consideration, I think the book still is quite a good read if you want to understand how far we’ve progressed into the world we currently live in and so, to appreciate what we have just a tad bit more than we currently do.

Recommended.

World is not as bad as it seems, not yet.

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