
Enlightenment Now
The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
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Compra ahora por $20.33
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Narrado por:
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Arthur Morey
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De:
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Steven Pinker
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.
Download the accompanying reference guide.©2018 Steven Pinker (P)2018 Penguin AudioLas personas que vieron esto también vieron:


Probably the best
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Excellent
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An important and timely work
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Does this book ever end
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Interesting but tedious
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The rise of science is often credited with advancements in medicine and food supply. If there was no other reason than to privilege science as a worthy pursuit, it would be this. But in addition to us living longer and healthier, we are more connected, able to travel further, have access to affordable necessities, and shared in the prosperity that has come from better harnessing nature. Poverty is decreasing, extreme poverty is all but eradicated, and the masses in both the developing and developed world are living improved lives as a result - working less and having more time for leisure.
The book is at its strongest when bringing alive the practical consequences of the data, where what it means in real terms is laid out. It does this by contrast - by looking at alternative modes of government and moral thinking, and showing just how the way things are now are better. The arguments about markets lifting people out of poverty were especially compelling, as was the more rational view of how to deal with environmental problems such as global warming. (Though I wish there was time dedicated to dealing with the issue of plastic in our oceans.) The book keeps utopian thinking in check by repeatedly showing how utopian beliefs get in the way of practical problem solving, and how practical problem solving is how we've gotten this far.
Perhaps if there's a weakness to the book, it's the connection to particular philosophers and philosophical strands as being the intellectual foundations of the successes, or foundations of the counter-enlightenment that obfuscates and seeks to undo the Enlightenment. For example, the book closes with a very uncharitable reading of Nietzsche that lays the blame for much of the horrors of the 20th century at his philosophy. This seems like it gives way too much power to his words in fascism and war. Similarly the likes of Kant et al. get a lot of credit for the goods of the subsequent successes of the enlightenment. This case isn't sufficiently made, and seems a little overblown given the role of historical contingency in shaping the course of history.
That quibble aside, there's a lot of good to find in this book. And to me the take-home message is this:
1. We ought to understand the world through science and reason in order to solve the problems we as a species face.
2. Despite a long history of intellectual pessimism about three state of the world, the fruits of science and reason have improved the lives of people in the last few hundred years and in particular very recently.
3. The values of the enlightenment: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, give the moral and cultural foundations that allow for individuals and societies to flourish in a way no other ideals have.
and finally
4. If we want this to continue, we should continue to value science and reason as the tools for achieving this. It may not create a utopia, but it's far better than the alternatives that have come before despite any superficially seductive qualities they have to the human mind.
A case for scientific-based optimism
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A scientific case for optimism
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This book will definitely enlighten
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The Most important book of our time...
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A dose of reality
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