Enlightenment Now
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- Опубликовано: 10 июл 2024
- Join me in the final episode of this series, as we cover content from some of my most ambitious and controversial books. The universe may seem indifferent to our wellbeing, and yet poverty, illiteracy, and disease are on the decline here on earth. How have values of reason, science and humanism from the 18th century, helped us get here, despite huge setbacks like the pandemic? Be guided on a thought journey inspired by my latest book, Enlightenment Now: A Case for Reason, Science, Humanism & Progress.
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A cautious optimism-a great way to wake up! Thank you Steve!❤
Science tells a different story, mass animal extinction and brewing geopolitical conflicts. Try again.
Millions of shirts should be emblazoned with what Prof. Pinker states at 7:05 - “Reason, Science, and Humanism”. And wear it proudly.
While Prof. Pinker's emphasis on "Reason, Science, and Humanism" is indeed compelling, emblazoning millions of shirts with this motto might oversimplify the complexities of our world. Adopting such a slogan as a universal solution assumes that there is a need for fundamental change, whereas it’s possible that the world is functioning as it is meant to, without requiring a one-size-fits-all solution.
This is not optimism, this is realism.
Wrong, science tells a different story, mass animal extinction and brewing geopolitical conflicts. Try again.
I am a Venezuelan that's in Germany and I assisted an "Orienterungskurs" for "Leben in Deutschland". In the Orienterungskurs's book there is an Article from Mr. Pinker. It is an article (in german) about music perception.
The book is 100 Stunden Deutschland.
We needed to speak an opinion in german about it ! I was glad to see in the book an article from Mr. Pinker.
Over a longer period I would have agreed with this summary, but I feel that in the recent decade or so the progress of the previous 50 years is in decline. Knowledge and possession of sparkly things is not synonymous with enlightenment.
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Thank you, I have very much enjoyed this series :)
Nicely done. 😊
2:40 This one thing has moved the needle forward more than anything else...the sharing of ideas through the printed (texted?) word.
Free Speech
Thank You
Loved watching this
There was a book written about a hundred years ago. Sorry, I am relying on memory here and don't recall the title or the author. But it made the case that history is not a linear progression from baser, unenlightened to more cosmopolitan and enlightened. Rather it is a series of cycles involving the opposing stances of Culture vs Civilization. Culture is the stance of homogeneous societies unaffected by exposure to other, differing societies. Culture is monolithic and traditional. Civilization is the new stance once a society comes in contact with other ethnically different societies. Civilization is messy, diverse, pluralistic. The conflict comes about because the original culture never dies away. It lives on, experiencing the new cosmopolitan landscape as an intrusive, corrosive assault on the traditional values. Sometimes Civilization is dominant and sometimes Culture is dominant. It is a cycle.
.... Would explain a lot
Paradox: this series and I are well aligned but I often feel chaffed after watching a video. Observation: 0:30 into the video, and other than four words on a title card, we've only seen personality-centered indexing. Perhaps it's related to the paradox.
Read the book when it first came out. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. Pinker is unfairly critical of Libertarians but nobody is perfect. Anyways, I highly recommend the book!
Libertarians are pretty unethical and not very bright. I know. I was one.
Oh, that enlightenment, the one where Kant tells us that knowledge of the 'thing in itself' is impossible :)
You are missing out on what's important.
Consider: Not knowing what you don’t know can be enlightening-it's like finding joy in the mystery of a puzzle even if you never solve it. Sometimes, the sheer awareness of your ignorance is a light bulb moment in itself!
I thought he was going to talk about *real* enlightenment, not a bunch of 18th centure brainacs making wild assed guesses about ethics and morals that sound good in the greek rationalist tradition, that gets written into a national constitution that we now swear on a Jefferson bible to defend. Isn't that the philosophy that gives us the 'Blank Slate' he was railing against in another tome? :)
No, the one that brought us human rights.
@@FranFerioli or tried to - why is Marxist ideology gaining on liberal democracy in university humanities? Could it be the 'scientific' ethics of "greatest good for the greatest number" is utterly meaningless? What do you mean by "good' ? Maximum hedonistic sensory titillation? Struggling and sacrificing to provide for your family?
Pinker's better than this. I'm sad about how toxic academia have treated him. I can relate.
The history of pessimism pertaining to the “clash of civilisation” is a counter factual to optimistic humanism derived from the Kantian enlightenment paradigm.
Ah, I see we’re diving into the deep end of philosophical debates! So, pessimism about the “clash of civilizations” is basically the “I told you so” to optimistic humanism's “everything will be fine” from the Kantian enlightenment playbook. It’s like having a debate between the "glass half-empty" club and the "it’s a glass, so cheers!" society-both sides make for fascinating dinner party conversation!
@@ardentenquirer8573 cheers to the half full glass
Argghhh! Steve, I *hate* the picture of you holding the brain at 0:06. Whoever took that picture did you no favors. I love your books, but I'm not watching any of your videos featuring this bizarre picture.
Well, that seems bizarre being triggered by a picture where the science and reasoning in that thought?
@@ardentenquirer8573 Ha! I'm not being triggered! I am a great admirer of Dr. Pinker, and enjoy his books and his appearances on TV. One of the things I like about him is that, while he is clearly an incredibly intelligent guy, he presents himself without pretentions. He comes across as an ordinary guy who knows a lot of stuff he wants to share. Well, that picture to me looks _incredibly_ pretentious, an image of feigned pensiveness, and it just belies my impression of his character. I want to believe he had nothing to do with selecting that image.
Allow me to argue briefly how mechanistic enlightenment rationality failed humanity during the recent pandemic. If human societies were mobilized not towards the mechanistic end of a consciousness spectrum (with bacteria as the least conscious and humans as the most), then resources would have been directed to care for the sick rather than hiding or going dormant like bacteria. Communities could have mobilized youths to actively care for the sick using the best-known technologies and commonsense solutions - increasing altruistic, economic and social success for the least productive parts of humanity. This active participation would have exposed strong human immune systems to the virus, aiding its eradication. The Enlightened elites missed an opportunity, or they deliberately edged us closer to a "Brave New World".
"This active participation would have exposed strong human immune systems to the virus, aiding its eradication." and you know because you such a renowned world expert on everyting!!
I would think the goal of eliminating poverty is connected to the selfishness of the Western world in many ways, mainly through irrational belief/faith? While vaguely assuming it will stymie the planet's population growth by some and others knowing it will help increase the human population on the planet through an increased birth rate secured by human well-being - before understanding what human overpopulation means. Either way, eliminating poverty is a disturbing statement to many in the current world with the populations currently, because most have not understood where this leads too. Precisely because of irrational beliefs mentioned. Perhaps those newly arrived out of poverty, they then can collectively use this newly found freedom of self-assurance, new beliefs and the irrational collective energy to impose these irrational belief systems on others and create havoc or more wars when opposed...
Humans are inherently influenced by their biological and psychological predispositions. Could you identify a country or group of people that has not prioritized its own interests or acted selfishly and yet managed to thrive and survive over the long term?
@@ardentenquirer8573 That does not mean it is true, we are all human beings bound to one planet.
“The universe is indifferent to our well being” wonder if he thinks this statement is an opinion or objective fact. Aren’t humans inseparable from the universe? Our bodies are made of the same atoms as cosmic bodies. Our minds use the same electronic interactions that permeate space time. Seems pinker doesn’t apply his own idea of dissolving the distinction between subjective vs objective reality here. Being a linguist I’m surprised to even hear him use “the universe“ as a concept at all since it literally means everything. Even hardcore materialist atheists can’t help but separate humans from the heavens.
The Tao Te Ching conveys a similar idea in chapter 5...
Heaven and Earth are not humane. / They regard all things as straw dogs. / The sage is not humane. / He regards all people as straw dogs.
"Su Zhe's commentary on the verse explains: "Heaven and Earth are not partial. They do not kill living things out of cruelty or give them birth out of kindness. We do the same when we make straw dogs to use in sacrifices. We dress them up and put them on the altar, but not because we love them. And when the ceremony is over, we throw them into the street, but not because we hate them."" [excerpt from Wikipedia page, "Straw Dog"
junk science
Or... junk comment? Yes, I think the latter.
While you proposed a conjecture that it be considered junk science, it is important to note that all conjectures ( your comment) require rigorous testing and potential refutation; otherwise, they remain scientifically unsubstantiated. So scientifically unsubstantiated is junk science
"In the realm of science and reason, it is our practice to critically evaluate and demonstrate when claims are unsupported by evidence. Your assertion is scientifically unsubstantiated. It is worth noting that Pinker's observation about human reasoning often being fallible may indeed hold some truth. Your comment may serve as evidence of this in support of Pinker's claim.
Cheers and thanks lending support to his claims
@@lostinchineseroom One man's junk is a garbmutt's treasure; dognity is a garbmutt's dignity.