Enlightenment Now

The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress

By: Steven Pinker

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Brought to you by Penguin.

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.

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© Steven Pinker 2018 (P) Penguin Audio 2018

Critic reviews

My new favourite book of all time (Bill Gates)

Exhilarating, magnificent, uplifting

This is the biggest story of our time. It's about the many ways in which the world is improving, and why we don't believe it (Fraser Nelson)

Pinker is right. Not just a bit right, but completely, utterly, incontrovertibly right ... for most people, life is better, even if they don't realise it (Dominic Sandbrook)

Awesome. The confidence with which Pinker tears through the issues that cause such deep anxiety today is compelling (William Davies)

A characteristically fluent, decisive and data-rich demonstration of why, given the chance to live at any point in human history, only a stone-cold idiot would choose any time other than the present (Sam Leith)

A new, optimistic view of the world ... Things are not as bad as your Facebook news feed makes them seem ... a cheerful, contrarian tract for dark times (Niall Ferguson)

A goldmine of startling graphs and killer facts about the way we live now. Everyone should read this book and, just for once, be enthralled by what humankind has achieved (Iain Macwhirter)

Brimming with surprising data and entertaining anecdotes ... a genuinely enlightening book (Jan-Werner Müller)

Today we are living healthier, wealthier lives - and it's thanks to the values of the Enlightenment ... a passionate book in praise of Enlightenment values (David Aaronovitch)

Probably the best

It’s the book definitely worth reading. Maybe the best book I’ve read. It’s about hope and peace.

Excellent

I enjoyed this story of humans authored by Pinker. Morey did an excellent job narrating - he seemed passionate / knowledgeable on the subject that several times I had to remind myself that this production was not read by the author.

An important and timely work

Thank goodness for voices of reason like Steven Pinker's. It saddens me that he endures so much criticism from people who should really be applauding the direction he is steering the public discussion. This book is huge in scope and he takes up positions of guarded optimism (on the whole) that are generally well argued and sensible, while avoiding glibly cataclysmic assessments. I never write reviews. But this book has prompted me to break this habit. Listen to it, stay calm and let's do what we need to do.

Does this book ever end

At nearly 20 hours this book seems to be as fulfilling as bottomless coffee. Enlightening but eventually, getting bored of it.

Interesting but tedious

The concepts and facts were magnificent and Mr Pinker made his point beautifully as alway. However, sometimes the book dragged itself out. It could have had the same impact with a lot less words.