The RSA
With each new dispiriting headline, it’s hard not to feel that the world is sinking deeper into chaos, hatred and irrationality. But is modernity really failing? Or have we failed to appreciate the progress we have made, and the ideals that make it possible?
Acclaimed global thinker Steven Pinker argues that though we continue to face formidable challenges in our world today, we must also recognise and celebrate the remarkable gains that have been made in every measure of human wellbeing. If you follow trendlines rather than headlines, you discover that our lives have become longer, healthier, safer and more prosperous – not just in the West, but worldwide.
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Although I applaud Mr. Pinker's intention here, he shouldn't just conveniently ignore the fact that people do not judge their circumstance in absolute terms but relative to their peers and former experiences. Attributing a negative trend in sentiment to availability heuristics and negativity bias only seems a bit too simplistic…
25:50 You and Jordan Peterson have a lot to talk about, bucko.
After listening to Mr Pinker, I feel like making a daisy chain and baking a vegan pizza. My observation with his presentation; as a society we seem even less equipped to deal with the tragedy of life. How do we define progress and enduring joy? Mr Pinker you seek to convince me to believe in your human flawed opinions. Our species has shown across millennia that we ignore the spiritual dimension at our peril. Until we take responsibility and pick up our cross and learn to love others, we will never be at peace. Ne Timeas.
Pinker loves talking about Human emotions… and has no problem placing Chomsky on the "extreme left"… I have no idea what that means but yesterday, while sweeping a toad out of my kitchen and hearing it scream like a pig, almost Human like, realized how special our emotions are as contrasted to toads and pigs… and what a wonderful Human world it is.
RSA, as you almost always run out of QA time. Maybe its time to think about doing longer sessions?
And Pinker loses nearly all respect after he mentions his belief that Capitalism leads to happier living than Communism.
Brilliant guy – but I could teach him not to look at his slides while he is presenting, which is awful – it means people are not listening to him, but reading his slides. He undermines himself.
Thank you so much Professor Pinker. Your speech has a lot of impact on reducing my anxiety.
You know what a surefire recipe for failure is? Quitting. And there is a lot of work to be done. We have the numbers… seven going on eight billion people to make life worse… or better. Worse is quitting, anger, despondence, sabotage, trolling, pessimism, detail mania. Better is to keep swimming, contribute, do what will help more at least in some ways… hopefully significant ways, have vision, learn more, do positive actions to propel the negatives into positive directions.
For people who feel that Pinker's book is not exact enough. That is what you get wrong: insisting on perfection before you get to what is any good and forfeiting the future with naysaying. This is fine for you, it would seem. But just like everyone else, if you aren't helping then all the "right correct" views and facts in the world are no earthly good to you or anyone else.
If you think freedom is burdensome, you haven't tried slavery.
Pinker's book, Enlightenment Now, is nearly heresy to the current glut of neo-marxist professors and their unfortunate students. I wonder how long before they'll try to shut him down like they do most everyone else that dares to speak anything contrary to their university echo chambers. How long before they're banging on the doors and windows to silence him like they routinely do at Professor JW Peterson's lectures. For example, witness this recent display at his Queen's University address entitled (amazingly enough), "The Rising Tide of Compelled Speech" – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwdYpMS8s28&t=3046s
I have nothing against Englightenment values if they are actually used to help humankind and not just to reinforce white male dominance. Modern Physics has shown us how little we really know about the nature of our universe, and Philosophy showed us a long time ago that "reason" alone could not solve all our problems.
When we closely examine Pinker's bizarre claims we see they are just as nonsensical as they appear to be. He says there is less violence, greater happiness, and enlightenment, but in reality there is more violent crime (there has been a 2.5-fold increase in the US rate since 1960; the number of school shootings have increased by 8.5 times since the '50s and '60s in the US alone; and globally there has been a 20-fold increase in the number of mass murders committed by groups, a 1000-fold increase in the number of fatalities, and a 200-fold increase in the number of wounded), higher suicide rates (a 60% increase globally), more mental illness (the life-time incidence of mental illness has risen to 50%), greater income disparity (since 1980 the gap between rich and poor has increased in almost every region of the world over the last 4 decades, and in OECD countries the income gap is at its highest level in 3 decades), a faltering economy, more pollution (air pollution has grown 8% globally), a greater number of natural disasters and a greater number of people affected by them and greater costs, more drug abuse, and a decline in democracy, and there is the dominance of the extreme left, cultural communism, the excesses of feminism, ever-increasing radicalization, desensitization and increased apathy, rampant anti-intellectualism, the tyranny of official science and its close-minded irrationality and widespread incompetence, mass surveillance, opposition to self-defense and security, the excesses of the judicial system (release of dangerous offenders, discretionary powers in sentencing, abolition of fathers' rights), the reign of sensationalism in the media, environmentalist extremism, nutrition neurosis and its food phobias, and misuse of language.
The Japanese have a concept called Ikigai, roughly translated as how to attain meaning and purpose to our lives … check this meme, let me know your thoughts … https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*qNNzYd3SE1Z09d_IaJOdGA.jpeg
@ 13:30 Capital punishment will vanish from the world in the 2020s … can I get an article link to read about that?
@ 36:00 Populism comes in two forms: the authoritarian populism mentioned throughout this show, better known as majoritarianism, and progressive populism, better known as democratic socialism, where your government acts for the benefit of all its people, as you'd see in so many Scandinavian nations …
PS, of course, I know you understand the difference, but it always helps to clear this up … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwHhV7tyXkE
Please stop smacking your lips, I can't take it!!!!!
What is a perokial valu?
The world is getting better. Yes, freedom, respect for life and prosperity are great for all of us. Great message. Thanks.
Pinker is my political spirit animal. Politically eclectic. Best response ever.
Read both books and am so impressed by the thoroughness of the sources and references. I live in South Africa which is mentioned only 5 times but I can confirm, that in spite of huge problems here, things have gotten better over the last 2 decades.
Nevertheless despite his deep anti-catholic bias I strongly recommend his books as great compendium of data about wonderful progress
I wonder if Pinker is conscious of his anti catholic bias and is willfully omitting history Or ignorant to facts that Christianity and Roman catholic church in particular was uniquely responsible for idea of continuous progress in science For development of Universities as centers for learning and knowledge accumulation , for creating scientific method, rational thinking, use of mathematics to verify science, placing medicine as a science within university system, development of hospitals orphanages and and social work and so on.
The greatest achievement of enlightenment was reintroducing modern state as a mass terror and murder as it was during roman times (this is by the way what he shows in his book better Angels) And use of scientific means to institute this terror . Scientific method rational thinking use od ata for arguments were product of medieval church!
It amazing that brilliant person like Pinker can be so ignorant about history and and so biased against catholic church. He sound like moron which he is not but he should read Thomas Aquinas father of rational thought Or Ockham father scientific method and read about first agricultural revolution brought about monastics and concept of society duty to relieve human suffering
Except for happiness, Pinker. You don't have a lot of stats on happiness except in vague terms. In other words, the very thing that you are trying to prove has increased, with this flood of information.
The Enlightenment did result in many good things, but it also had a downside like every major philosophical movement. The Enlightenment thinkers were not to blame, but the way their ideas were interpreted by others, yet that still counts as the "fruits" of the Enlightenment. For instance, the French Revolution resulted from the Enlightenment, and it was a bloody, anarchic mess.
He gets extra credibility because he looks like he's wearing a powdered wig
If the percentage of people living in poverty falls by half across a time when the population doubles, the number of people in poverty is the same.
The amount of fossil carbon emitted by the end of the time period was double the amount released up to the beginning of it.
An honest economy could align corporate interests with societal interests, so that what is profitable is also what is good for the environment and sustainable long-term. We can make the economy honest by charging fees to industries that deplete resources or put pollution or destroy wildlife habitat. Make the policy fair by sharing fee proceeds to all people. One policy to promote sustainability AND end poverty.
Make a healthy society:
https://gaiabrain.blogspot.com/2018/11/we-need-to-make-healthy-society.html
What's crazy is how furious people get if you say things are getting better, in these ways at least. They lose their minds!