highlights from Enlightenment Now 🌱

  • Enlighenment Now clearly explained many controversial topics as well as dispelled many misconceptions I had about the state of modern society. I feel much more knowledgable about what’s going on in today’s world and also more confident in the ability of our society to combat the major problems that the world faces.
  • Firstly, income inequality has indeed grown over time, however everyone’s income (and buying power) has been rising. The wealth disparity should be addressed, but the standard of living for everyone continues to improve which I’m quite happy about.
  • I had a very negative perception of nuclear power prior to reading this book. As it turns out, the deaths resulting from harnessing nuclear power are miniscule compared to the number of deaths resulting from most kinds of other energy. Using nuclear power is also much more efficient than using other forms of energy, although the amount of carbon dioxide and methane released per unit of energy has dramatically decreased for all forms of energy.
  • Steven Pinker claims that the emphasis that we place on terrorist attacks reveals how benign society really is, since they make up a very small proportion of deaths (also that Terrorism is intended to provoke, whereas military force is intended to weaken).
  • Millennials use less drugs than Baby Boomers, despite common perceptions.
  • The best predictor of democratic values and emancipation in a society is the World Bank’s knowledge index. This could imply a causal relationship between knowledge/progress and democracy where societies are all approaching democracy as they further develop (take this with a grain of salt).
  • Society has been improving over the long term, despite short term fluctuations. Progress is self-cloaking in that solving a problem gives rise to new ones.
  • I found this to be quite surprising: there is no correlation between people’s understanding of climate change and whether or not they believe in it. Mostly, those who do not believe in climate change (or support Donald Trump for example) do so because of their personal values and identity, not due to a lack of understanding.

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