Al Jazeera English
In this week’s UpFront, we challenge author and Harvard professor Steven Pinker on his new book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress, in which he argues that data shows the world is becoming a better place.
And in the Arena, we ask journalist Afua Hirsch and Claire Fox, author and director of the UK-based think-tank the Academy of Ideas, about racism in the United Kingdom, and the kind of conversations needed to address it.
Headliner: War, poverty and inequality: is there any good news?
Harvard professor and cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker’s new book Enlightenment Now has sparked a debate on how we see the world.
While wars and poverty continue to affect millions around the world, Pinker argues that both are in decline and challenges readers to see “how amazing our world has become.”
“Any aspect of human well-being that you measure has shown an increase,” he says. “We live longer, more of us go to school, life is safer, fewer of us die in wars.”
According to Pinker, humanity’s progress can be attributed to reason and science, ideas he says were expressed in 18th century Europe, during a period widely referred to as the Enlightenment.
Pinker relies heavily on data to support his argument that prosperity is rising in the world. When challenged on the types of data chosen, particularly his use of the $1.90 extreme poverty line set by the World Bank, Pinker denies that other measures reveal more poverty.
“No matter what cutoff you set, the direction is downward,” he says. “Billions of people have been added to the world as a whole. What’s relevant is the proportion.”
Pinker’s views on climate change, expressed in his book, have also drawn criticism. “It’s not irrevocable,” he says. “The trend is in the wrong direction, but that doesn’t mean that nothing could work.”
Watch part two of UpFront’s interview with Steven Pinker here.
Arena: Is the UK still racist?
According to journalist Afua Hirsch, “discussing race in contemporary Britain is still a radical act.” In her latest book, Brit(ish), Hirsch argues that the UK has failed to reckon with its colonial past and that conversations about race, ethnicity and diversity have been silenced.
“I’m not saying that we haven’t made progress,” says Hirsch, “but I think what’s happened is that because racism has become less visible, and it’s become more subtle and coded, we’ve become very complacent.”
While Fox agrees that racism exists in the UK, she takes issue with some of the terms used in the conversation.
“This is an aspect of identity politics that I feel very uncomfortable with,” she says. “Rather than taking people for what they say and for the ideas they hold, we start to see people based on their ethnicity, or indeed on their gender or any number of things.”
But discussing race in the UK is necessary, according to Hirsch, because what exists now is a “victor’s version of history”.
“We talk about West India merchants in our literature and period dramas. We never call them slave owners,” she says. “We’ve found so many ways of coating this past so that it’s more palatable”.
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mehdi hasan is a chump, no doubt about it. He just can't accept the facts, as it doesn't fit his worldview. Pinker, polite, patient and intelligent, none of these words can be used to describe hasan.
What a clown Mehdi Hassan is. He brought Pinker on the show to interview him, but then shouts over him whenever he speaks.
Hasan be-clowned himself. Obviously had an agenda tried to use weasel words “some say” “some critics say.”
What an unpleasant interviewer.
Just remember that every challenge Mehdi swings at his guests casts the shadow of a winged horse flying to heaven, if you get the reference
Hasan strives to show that only Europe was and somehow is a racist and the Islamic world is all roses and progress ?
Bravo, Mr.Pinker. His incessant need to talk over you was only to silence the truth – a scoundrel.
This poor interviewer cannot make one reasonable point that actually sticks. He uses Anthropologists for Poverty discussions and has hist hostory upside down. These poor Arabs are never going to make it in the modern world. They just don't get the concept of Enlightenment and Science. No wonder the Arab world is the mopst archaic part of the world.
Agree with other comments about this interviewer. Clearly he had an agenda that was not conducive to a reasoned discourse on the issue. I had to stop watching after about five minutes.
Hassan destroyed Pinker and you know it because all the Pinker fans in the comments are complaining that Hassan is "too aggressive" or that he "interrupts too much"
If Hassan had his facts wrong, or made a logical fallacy or something, you would see them jump on that. They have to criticize his style because they can't criticize the substance.
As annoying as Mehdi can be, I actually think he makes a good adversarial interviewer. Wish he’d steelman his guest’s arguments a bit better before challenging them but I do think his style helps to make the guest’s arguments stronger in the long term.
It's a wonder that Mehdi won't dare be that objective about Islam
Manhattan will be buried under arctic water in a few decades, and elite intellectuals will still be like "but it's getting better! Our grandparents didn't even have robots to iron their shirts for them!"
Mehdi should stick to flying horses
A less intelligent person needs to speak over a smarter one. Pinker made his point, but he could have done a much better job if the interviewer were not that bad.
I think Mehdi Hassan's most plausible claim was about the arbitrary number that Pinker used in his book to claim that global poverty has fallen. I obviously have to do more research but it does seem like it would be extremely difficult to put an exact dollar amount on poverty.
wow is that embarrassing… I guess Harvard is giving tenure away easy these days.
I dont like the way Mr. Mehdi Hassan constantly interrupts Mr. Pinker. Re-changing the way of discourse via questioning used to be a good technique.
Pinker's fantasy excellently pulled apart. But I will say that Mehdi should have allowed more room for SP to finish his thoughts and should not have rushed him like that.
This interviewer is a complete Dodo.
This guy is too impress by statistics, which apply to having advanced economy and imperialistic politically countries. Pinker maybe thinks neoliberalism brought progress, the paradise on earth.
I think Mehdi Hassan is just ideologically possessed . And he no nothing about statistics. People should be careful before calling Professor like Pinker dumb.
So many interruptions, why even have the guy on if you're not going to let him talk?
steven pinker stuttering like an idiot because he has no answers lmao
So many comments focused on Mehdi Hasan being a Muslim. The topic is POVERTY you dummies.
White trash invaders go back to Europe or die bitchs
White people will never understand that they the reason the world is bad
I really wish more interviewers were like this cough cough get your act together Dave Rubin. Joe Rogan maybe can be accused of that (lack of questioning of the interviewee's views) to some extent but definitely to a far lesser extent than Dave Rubin.
Pinker says everything couldn't be better here in the present yet he continues to get his style cues from 1966 Bob Dylan.
Watching neoliberal politicals get completely destroyed is something you'll never see on the US corporate media.
Thanks!
its not fox news channel here Steven you need to be ready and prepared .
What an aggressive way to approach to an interview for om Mehdi. And all easily disputed by Pinker, supported by data.
Wow Pinker completely owned medhi here…… Mehdi went emotional and Pinker went with the data.
Constantly interrupting your interviewee is not equal to challenging his views. Pinker owned him, in spite of all this pseudo-journalist’s efforts to make him look bad.
A homophobic Islamist trying to blame his own bigotry on the movements that led to the liberation of gay people
Pinker caught being a stinker
I know this is an old video but Mehdi must have been taking a page out of the Cathy Newman form of interviewing here. By hectoring, being rude and saying "countless studies" yet citing very few he is trying to elicit a response from Pinker. I am so very glad he did not give it to him. A clever man with a clever book being interviewed by an ignorant, belligerent and intellectual cretin.
Hassan is an intellectual midget. In the constellation of decent, bright people at Al Jaz he sticks out – in ALL his work – as being disingenuous and extremely dull. Can he even read? Do better Al Jaz, as you USUALLY do. D.A., NYC
Mehdi Hassan is a hillbilly who believes in flying horses and magic carpet, what more can u expect.
hahaha Mehdi accusing Pinker of using stawmen, that's rich. Every single counter argument presented by Mehdi was in fact a strawman.