Steven Pinker | Enlightenment Now

One of today’s boldest thinkers, experimental psychologist Steven Pinker prompted hope and debate with The Better Angels of Our Nature, in which he argued that over the course of human history, we’ve grown steadily less violent. In Enlightenment Now, he expands that claim to say that, in fact, human life today is better than it’s ever been. This may seem counter-intuitive in an age of demagoguery and conflict, but according to Pinker, the advances we’ve made in material and emotional well-being are unprecedented. As long as we hold to Enlightenment values of reason, science, and humanism, Pinker writes, we will keep building a better, safer, and happier world.