Enlightenment Now
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Baron, Jonathan, 369
Barrett, Clark, 17
Basque ETA movement, 195
Batbie, Anselme, 341
Baudelaire, Charles, 30
Bauer, Peter, 79
Bauman, Zygmunt, 397
Baumeister, Roy, 267, 477n20
Bayesian reasoning, 369–70, 380, 381, 393
Bazile, Leon, 376
Beatles, 257, 274
beauty
in art, 395, 406, 407
counter-entropic patterns as, 18
evolutionary psychology of, 18, 407, 408, 426
intrinsic value of, 18, 35, 248, 414, 433–4
in religion, 432
from science, 34, 260, 386, 407–8, 433–4
Beccaria, Cesare, 12, 174, 417
BECCS (bioenergy with carbon capture and storage), 151
Beckett, Samuel, 456n10
Belarus, 209, 313
Belgium, 169, 170, 259
Bell, Daniel, 390
Benin, 203, 475n30
Benjamin, Walter, 39–40
Benny, Jack, 333
Bentham, Jeremy, 223, 417
Bergman, Ingmar, 280
Berlin, Isaiah, 344
Berlin Wall, 163, 200–201, 203
Berry, Ken, 316
Best, Charles, 63
Better Angels of Our Nature, The (Pinker), 45–6
battle deaths (1946–2016), 159–60, 159
capital punishment, 209, 211
democracy vs. autocracy, 202
genocide deaths, 161
hate crimes, 220
homicide rates, 171
homosexuality, decriminalization of, 223
most recent year of data, 156, 466n1
objections to reliance on data in, 43–7
racist, sexist, and homophobic opinions, 216
rape and domestic violence, 221
terrorism deaths, 194
trends of, generally, 156
victimization of children, 229
war between great powers, 157–8, 157
Betteridge’s Law of Headlines, 282, 404
Bettmann, Otto, 178–9, 185, 186
Bible
antihumanistic content of, 440
crucifixion in, 208
despotism in, 199
in fabric of human knowledge, 433
famine in, 68
life expectancy in, 58
literal truth of, belief in, 489n53, 490n84
maternal pain and suffering in, 57
morality as relative in, 429
on the poor, 89
prophets in, 49, 293
suicide in, 278
See also God
Bierce, Ambrose, 428
Big Bang, 17, 385, 424
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 66
bin Laden, Osama, 443
biochar, 150
bioethics, research and committees for, 402
bioterrorism, 300–302, 305, 306–7
Birdzell, L. E., 79
black swans. See power-law distribution; rare events
Blake, William, 92
Blank Slate, The: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (Pinker), 45, 373, 484n61
Bloom, Paul, 101–2
Blue Collar (film), 113
blue lies, 358–9
Bogotá, Colombia, 172
Bohr, Niels, 308
Boko Haram, 67, 162
Boltzmann, Ludwig, 15
Bonaparte, Napoleon, 84–5
books, 239, 260–61, 408
Borlaug, Norman, 75–6, 77
Bornstein, David, 50
Bosch, Carl, 75
Bosnia, 151, 404, 436
Boston, Massachusetts, 130, 172, 183
Botswana, 91, 141
Boyd, Richard, 429
Boyer, Paul, 311
brain
consciousness and, 426
hearing and, 20–21
human investment in bigger, 22–3
intelligence and, 21, 242
as metabolically greedy organ, 242
pleasure and pain and, 414
See also cognitive biases; intelligence; reason
Brand, Stewart, 77, 122, 123, 133, 149, 301–2, 463n32, 465n76
Brandt, Willy, 200
Branwen, Gwern, 303
Braudel, Fernand, 68, 69, 79
Brazil, 90, 109, 172, 178, 200
Brecht, Bertolt, 23, 224, 447
Brezhnev, Leonid, 203
Briand, Aristide, 164
Briggs, John, 463n32
Brink, David, 429
Brin, Sergey, 100
Brockman, John, 390
Brontë, Charlotte, 284
Bronze Age, life expectancy and, 54
Brooklyn Dodgers, 179
Brooks, Rodney, 477n20
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, 230
Bruno, Giordano, 442
Bryce, Robert, 146
Buddhism, 23, 204, 412
Buffet, Warren, 117
bullying, 49
Burckhardt, Jacob, 165
Burke, Edmund, 341, 363, 366
Burkina Faso, 203
Burma. See Myanmar
Burroughs, William S., 456n10
Burtless, Gary, 115
Burundi, 141, 161, 475n30
Bush, George W.
African AIDS relief policy of, 67
among know-nothings, 374–5
disdain for science and, 60, 387, 389
and nuclear weapons, 291, 319
prescription drug benefit of, 109
wealth creation malaprop, 81
Buturovic, Zeljka, 362
Cambodia, 78, 147, 161, 238
Cameroon, 162
Campbell, David, 432
Campbell, Joseph, 456n1
Camus, Albert, 446
Canada
child mortality and, 56
depression and, 282
economic freedom in, 365, 483n39
education in, 237
emancipative values in, 225–7, 226, 227
and escape from poverty, 85
happiness and well-being, 438–9, 475n30
homicide rates in, 171
populism and, 341
secularization and, 436, 437, 438–9
social spending in, 108, 109, 365, 483n39
cancer, 61, 146
Cantril, Hadley, 266, 359
capitalism
authoritarian, China and, 90, 201, 203–4, 343
as coexisting with regulations, 364, 365
as coexisting with social spending, 364, 365, 483nn39,42
and cultures, 85
and Great Escape from poverty, 90–91, 364
unbridled/unregulated/untrammeled, 364
See also commerce; economic inequality; economics
capital punishment
abolition of, 208–213, 209
cognitive bias study referencing, 359–60
homosexual behavior criminalized, 223
Capp, Al, 297
Caracas, Venezuela, 172
carbon tax, 139, 145–6, 149
Carey, John, 247
Caribbean countries, 89, 175, 201, 203
Carlson, Robert, 307
Carroll, Sean, 385
Carter Center, 65
Carter, Jimmy, 67
Carter, Richard, 63–4
Castro, Fidel, 376–7, 447, 484n79
Catholic Church, education and, 234
Catholic countries, emancipative values in, 227, 227
Catholics, 222, 437, 440
&
nbsp; Central African Republic, 95, 162, 236
Central Asia, democratization and, 206
Chad, 160, 162
Chalk, Frank, 160–61
Chalmers, David, 425–6
Chamberlain, Houston Stewart, 398
Chaplin, Charlie, 186
charitable giving
Effective Altruism, 381
as factor in happiness, 271
Charlie Hebdo massacre, 370
Chase, Chevy, 266
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 181
Chávez, Hugo, 91, 171, 447
Chekhov, Anton, 284, 387
Chenoweth, Erica, 405
Chernobyl disaster (1986), 146
child mortality, 55–7, 56, 58, 66–7, 66, 125
children, 228–30
abuse of, 229
bullying at school, 229
child labor, 230–32, 231
child marriage ban, 222
childrearing in emancipative values, 224
corporal punishment of, 229–30
negative media coverage of, 229
stunting due to undernourishment, 70–71, 71
trafficking in, 232
See also child mortality; education; teenagers
Chile
child mortality and, 56
earthquake (2010), 188
education and literacy in, 236, 238
GDP of, 85
military government of, 200
poverty in, 91
China
An Lushan Rebellion, 484n77
authoritarian capitalism of, 90, 201, 203–4, 343
Axial Age and, 23
calories available per person in, 70, 70
capital punishment in, 209–210
carbon emissions of, 143, 143, 144
childhood stunting in, 71, 71
Chinese Civil War, 49, 158, 160, 199
Cultural Revolution (1966–75), 91, 161, 208
democratization and, 206
education in, 237, 237, 238
escape from poverty of, 85, 86, 90
famine in, 69, 72, 78
GDP of, 85
globalization and, 111
Great Leap Forward (1958–61), 78, 91
Great Recession and, 112
human rights in, 208, 208
mass killings (genocide deaths) in, 161
nuclear power and, 147, 150
nuclear weapons and, 313, 317, 318, 320
per capita income of, 86
perception of the world as getting better, 457n8
population-control program of, 74
quality of life and, 247
secularization and, 436
social spending in, 109
Tiananmen Square protests, 208
traffic death rates in, 178
and Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 419
China Syndrome, The (film), 147–8
chlorofluorocarbons ban (1987), 134
Chomsky, Noam, 443, 456n1
Christian militias, 162
Christians and Christianity
humanist denominations, 412
killings by ISIS, 162
Nietzsche’s rejection of, 444
religiosity of nation-states in world wars, 429–30
theoconservatism, 448–9
wars of religion, 8, 10, 364, 450, 488n46
See also Bible; Evangelical Christians
Churchill, Winston, 205, 341
Cicero, 397
Cipolla, Carlo, 79–80
cities. See cosmopolitanism; urbanization
civic associations, 235, 432, 447, 472n12
Civilizing Process, 43
civil wars, 158, 466n11
cost of, 91
decline of, after Cold War, 91, 158–60, 164
famine and, 78
terrorist deaths primarily taking place in, 193
uptick in the mid-2010s, 158–60
Claremont Institute, 448, 491n118
classical Greece and Rome
Aryan/Romantic hero theory and, 33, 398, 444
Axial Age and, 23
and democracy, 212, 381
execution of Socrates, 58, 212
racism and slavery in, 397
suicide and, 278
theistic morality and, 428, 431
See also Plato
classical liberalism. See Enlightenment, the
Clemenceau, Georges, 341
climate change, 136–54
carbon capture and storage, 150–51
carbon taxes, 139, 145–6, 149
climate justice movement, 138–9, 141–2
cognitive impediments to understanding, 140
decarbonization, 142–6, 143–4, 150–52
denial of, 137, 138, 139, 357
depoliticizing the discourse of, 382
geoengineering solutions, 150–51, 152–4, 382–3
nuclear power and, 144–5, 146–50, 465n76
Paris agreement, 134, 152, 335, 449
religious Cornwall Declaration on, 287
scientific literacy on, 356–7
spokespeople for, 382
Trump and, 335
Clinton, Bill, 67, 294, 449
Clinton, Hillary, presidential campaign of
analysis of voting patterns, 339, 438
conspiracy theories and, 358, 449
loss of, 214, 215
media and, 343, 449
popular vote won by, 214, 334, 338
theoconservatives and, 449
Clockwork Orange, A (film), 175
clothing
affordable, 80, 94, 117, 118
globalization and, 118, 462n63
coal
carbon-to-hydrogen ratio of, 143, 144, 465n67
cooking with, 183
gasification conversion to liquid fuel, 151
as replacing nuclear power plants, 147
See also climate change; energy; petroleum
Coal Miner’s Daughter (film), 113
Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire (1942), 183
cognition
combinatorial/recursive power of, 27
evolution of, not adapted to modernity, 25
language and, 27
See also abstract thinking; cognitive biases; Flynn effect; identity-protective cognition; intelligence
cognitive behavioral therapy, 175, 282
cognitive biases, 25–6, 353, 354–5, 403–4
adulthood mistaken for harsher world, 48
autobiographical memory and, 48, 281
bias bias of researchers, 361–3, 374
biased evaluation, 359
cognitive dissonance reduction, 377
confirmation biases, 369, 378
critical thinking courses, 377–8
debiasing programs, 378–9
decline in self mistaken for decline in times, 48
historical lag in recognizing, 383
Illusion of Explanatory Depth, 379–80
information sought to reinforce identity, 360
intuition outperformed by formulas, 403–4
motivated reasoning, 359, 377
My-Side bias, 359
Negativity bias, 47–8, 293
Optimism Gap, 40, 115, 225–6, 268
Rationality Community avoiding, 381
science as helping to overcome, 403
thinking in scale and in orders of change, 140
See also Availability heuristic; identity-protective cognition
cognitive psychology
and human irrationality, 351, 353
and literary sc
holarship, 407
Cohen, Leonard, 183
Cohen, Roger, 420
cohort (generational) effects
depression, 280–81, 282, 283, 476n74
emancipative values, 225–8, 226, 227
happiness, 273–4
liberalism, 216–17
populist support, 341–2, 342
religious belief, 437–8
social support, 275
suicide, 279–80
voting patterns, 342
See also age (life cycle) effects; Baby Boomers; Generation X; GI Generation; Millennials; period (zeitgeist) effects; Silent Generation
Cold War
autocratic governments propped up during, 91
civil wars during, 91, 158–60, 164
Colombian peace agreement and end of, 158
end of, and alleviation of poverty, 91
famine and, 78
New Peace following, 43
terrorism declining in period following, 195
See also nuclear war
Collier, Paul, 91
Colombia, 71, 71, 158, 172
colonial governments
and conquest, 163–4
famine exacerbated by, 78, 459n35
See also imperialism; postcolonial governments
commerce, 12–13
bourgeois virtue, development of, 84–5
cronyism, 83
institutions facilitating, 83–4
open economies, 83–4, 90–91
sectarian hatreds ameliorated by, 84
See also trade
—GENTLE COMMERCE, 13, 84, 162, 198–9, 228
American founders and, 13
and violent crime, historical reduction of, 168–9
communality, as scientific virtue, xvii–xviii
communism
collapse of, and escape from poverty, 90–91
democratic second wave pushed back by, 200
as failing to promote human flourishing, 364
famine exacerbated by, 78, 459n36
opposition to religion, 430, 436, 438
“primitive,” 102–3
quality of life and, 247, 248
romantic heroism and, 31, 165, 445
“scientific racism” and, 398
See also Marxism; Marxist guerrillas and terrorists
Compstat program, 380
computation
and consciousness, 426
and knowledge, 21
computers, delayed productivity growth from, 330. See also Artificial Intelligence; Internet
conatus (effort or striving), 19, 453
Condorcet, Nicolas de, 10
Confucianism, 23, 412, 418
Congo, poverty in, 89
Connor, Steven, 48
consciousness, 22, 407, 423, 425–8, 488n43
consequentialism, 416. See also utilitarianism
conservation areas, 123, 132–3, 133
conservation successes, 130, 133, 463n32
conspiracy theories
AIDS/HIV and, 401
as expression of tribal loyalty, 358–9