Enlightenment Now
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as right-wing movement in former days, 382
species returns vs. extinctions, 130, 133, 463n32
Trump and, 335
utilitarian motives for, 417
waterway improvements, 130
See also climate change
—POLLUTION
agriculture and, 123
as cost of gifts of industrialization, 123–4
energy and growth and, 129–30, 129
Law of Entropy and, 123
poverty and, 130–31, 463n28
Episcopalians (liberal), 412
equal rights, 214–28
of children, 228–32, 229, 231
denial of advances in, 215
education of populace and, 235
global progress in, 222–3, 223
humanism and, 417
moral arc of, 223–4
popularity of, 216–19, 216, 218, 471n13
populist backlash against, 219, 221, 225, 333, 340
and racial gap, closing of, 219
religious expression, 222
Trump’s hostility to, 336
and women’s status, 220
See also emancipative values; hate crimes; homosexuality and homophobia; racism; sexism; women: rights of
Erdogan, Recep, 201
Erwin, Douglas, 463n32
Estonia, 306
ethics. See morality
Ethiopia
child mortality and, 56
civil war (1974–91), 160
escape from poverty of, 85, 86
life expectancy at birth, 59
maternal mortality in, 57
and Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 419
eudaemonia (“good spirit”), 267
eugenics, 388, 399–400
Europe
accidents and accidental deaths in, 180–81
calories available per person in, 70, 70
capital punishment abolition in, 208–9, 210
carbon emissions of, 144, 144
Civilizing Process of, 168–9
emancipative values, rise in, 225–7, 226, 227
famine in, 68–9
fertility rates falling in, 125
happiness rising with GDP, 270–71
IQ gains in, 241
life expectancy in, 53–4, 54, 55
populism in, 334, 338–9, 341–2, 342, 438, 451, 481n32
poverty in, 79–80
rule of law established in, 43
social spending in, 107
suicide rates and, 278–80, 279
wars. See peace; World War I; World War II
See also Middle Ages; individual countries and subregions
Euthyphro (Plato), 428–9, 431
Evangelical Christians
environmentalists seeking common cause, 432
religiosity of, 440
size of group, 437, 489n75
as Trump voters, 432–3
voter turnout of, 438
Evans, Dylan, 477n20
Evans, Gareth, 313
Evans, Mariah, 101
Evola, Julius, 448, 491n118
evolution, 18–19
belief in, ideology vs. scientific literacy, 356
competition and malevolence and, 25
creationism vs., 19, 30, 356
genetic individuality and, 25
idea unknown to Enlightenment thinkers, 14, 386
immortality made unlikely due to, 61
indifference of the universe and, 24–5
information accumulation in genome and, 20, 21
life and living things as anti-entropic, 18–19, 20
moral sentiments selected by, 415
plant selection and, 76
unselfish behavior and, 25
See also natural selection
evolutionary psychology, 22–4, 25–7, 353–5
consciousness and, 426
group vs. gene as beneficiary of adaptation, 448
and literary scholarship, 407–8
and nationalism, 450
reason and, 353
of religion, 431
sympathy and, 415
Ewald, Paul, 306, 307
Existentialism, 33, 40, 446, 447
existential threats, 290–321
artificial intelligence as, 296–300, 477n20
Availability and Negativity biases and, 293
civilizations, destruction of, 295–6
dangers of overemphasizing, 291–2
gravitas market and, 49, 293, 452
hackers/evil geniuses, 300–307
human species extinction, 294–5
hypothetical vs. real, 291–2
natural disasters, 294–6
resilience of humans in face of, 305–6
risk estimation of highly imaginable, 292, 305
risk estimation of highly improbable, 292–3
technology as averting, 295–6
technology as causing, 293, 294
See also nuclear war
expressive rationality. See identity-protective cognition
extinction
of human species, 294–5
mass extinctions, 133
rebound of species, 130, 133, 463n32
extraterrestrial life, 166, 308
Facebook, 255, 256
faitheism, 31–2, 430
and existential questions, 433
Islamic antihumanism, apologists for, 441–2
negative vs. positive effects of religion, 431–3
religion as human need, 430–31
religious doctrine as allegory, 431, 489n53
and science, disdain for, 430
spirituality and, 433–5
See also intellectuals; theism and theistic morality
Falkland Islands, 315
falls, deaths from, 181–2, 182, 468n50
Falwell, Jerry, 294
family life, time for, 255–6, 256
famine. See under food and food security
Fanon, Frantz, 39–40, 405
FARC guerrillas, 158
Fariss, Christopher, 207
fascism
and decline of democratic governments, 200
Italian, 445, 446
neo-fascism, 419, 448, 451
Nietzsche as inspiring, 445, 448
populism and, 448, 491n118
See also Nazi Germany
fatalism
about accidents, 185
from consuming negative news, 42
from environmentalism, 121
from the Negativity bias, 47
from warnings of existential threats, 292
fate
denial of among successful forecasters, 370
as refuted by scientific revolution, 24, 394
“spirituality” as belief in, 434
See also fatalism; purpose, absence of in nature
female genital mutilation, 222
Fermi Paradox, 308
Feshbach, Herman, 308
Feynman, Richard, 390
Finkelhor, David, 229
Finland, 115, 457n8, 475n30, 489n68
fire and smoke deaths, 182–3, 182
Fischer, Claude, 274–5, 475n46
fisheries, 325
Flanders & Swann, 15
Flannery, Tim, 465n76
Flaubert, Gustave, 284
Fleming, Alexander, 63
flood control, 188
Florey, Howard, 64
Flynn effect, 240–45, 241
atheism and, 438
Flynn, James, 240, 243, 244
Fo
ege, William, 64, 65
Fogel, Robert, 68–9
Follett, Chelsea, 93
Fonda, Jane, 147–8
Fontane, Theodor, 284
food and food security, 19, 68–78, 70–73
achievement of, as energy capture, 23–4
nutritional quality and IQ rise, 241–2
obesity epidemic, 69, 117
undernourishment, 70–72, 71–2
See also agriculture
—DIET
diversification of, 259–60
of hunter-gatherers, 23
toxic, danger of (omnivore’s dilemma), 167
—FAMINE, 68–9, 72–4, 73, 78
and fear of population explosion, 73–4
governments exacerbating, 78, 459nn35–36
nuclear winter as producing, 308
in twentieth century, 72–3, 78, 459n36
Ford, Gerald, 275
forecasting tournaments, 368–71, 380, 393, 404
foreign aid, 95
Forster, E. M., 257
Förster-Nietzsche, Elisabeth, 445
Fortna, Virginia Page, 196–7, 404
fossil fuels. See coal; energy; petroleum
Foucault, Michel, 39–40, 397, 406, 446, 447
fracking, 143
France
calories available per person, 70, 70
emancipative values in, 225–7, 226, 227
famine in, 69
nuclear power and, 147, 148
nuclear weapons and, 317, 318, 320
populism and, 338–9, 341
poverty and, 79
rights, declaration of, 411
Second French War of Religion, 484n77
secularization and, 436, 437
social spending in, 108, 109
suicide and, 278
terrorism and, 219
Francis, Pope, 97, 122, 129, 142
Frankfurt, Harry, 98–9
Franklin, Benjamin, 359
Frank, Robert, 124
freedom
anxiety and, 285
happiness in relation to, 265–6, 271
hierarchy of needs and, 224
of modernity, 284–5
negative vs. positive, 265
to screw up your life, 344
See also democracy; emancipative values
freedom of religion, 417
freedom of speech
bioethics violating, 402
education and appreciation for, 235
as emancipative value, 224
populism and devaluing of, 333
as remedy for cognitive biases, 28, 202, 353, 390
utilitarianism and, 417
wealth of countries and, 96
freedom of the press, 336
Friedman, Milton, 119
Friends of the Earth, 465n76
Fukushima accident (2011), 146
Fukuyama, Francis, 201, 203
Furman, Jason, 117
Gaddafi, Muammar, 447
Galbraith, John Kenneth, 206
Galileo, 24
Galton, Francis, 399
Galtung, John, 41
game theory, 164, 386
See also Hobbesian trap (security dilemma); pacifist’s dilemma; Tragedy of the Commons
Gandhi, Indira, 131
Gandhi, Mohandas, 405, 418. See also nonviolent resistance
Gapminder (Web site), xviii, 52
Gates, Bill, 66, 67, 330, 481n16
gay rights. See homosexuality and homophobia
GDP (Gross Domestic Product), 85, 95–6, 461n7
carbon emissions per dollar of, 143, 143
emancipative values as correlated with, 228
Flynn effect as increasing, 242, 244–5
and global well-being, 245–6, 246, 473n45
happiness as increasing with, 269–71, 269, 272
information technology invisible in, 332–3
misleading, potentially. See paradox of value
quality of life and, 95
social spending as percentage of, 107–8, 108, 110, 483n39
Gelman, Andrew, 342
gender. See sex differences
General Social Survey, 273, 288
generational effects. See cohort effects
Generation X, 225
depression and, 476n74
digital technology and, 244
happiness and, 273
suicide and, 280
genetically modified organisms, 77–8, 331
genetics
behavioral genetics, and literary scholarship, 407
individuality of, 25
medical and behavioral, vs. eugenics, 399–400
genocide, 160–62, 161, 397, 466–7nn14,16
gentle commerce. See under commerce
Georgia (country), 86, 203, 335
Georgia (state), capital punishment in, 211
Germany
and authoritarian charismatic regimes, 343
Berlin Wall, 163, 200–201, 203
East and West, 91, 202
and escape from poverty, 85
literacy in, 236
nuclear power and, 147
populism and, 341
romantic militarism/nationalism of, 165–6, 398
secularization and, 489n68
social spending in, 108, 115
Trump and, 336
woman as leader of, 214
Get Smart (TV), 300
Ghitza, Yair, 342
Gide, André, 446
GI Generation, 225
depression and, 280–81
secularization and, 437
suicide and, 280
Glazer, Nathan, 274
Gleditsch, Nils Petter, 455n19, 466n6, 470n4, 490n91
Global Burden of Disease project, 59, 467n13
Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism, 435, 489n65
globalization, 120
consumption and, 117
and economic inequality, 103–4, 111
and Great Escape from poverty, 92
and income distribution, global, 111–13, 111
lower middle classes of the rich world as losing out in, 112, 113, 118–19, 339, 340
Trump’s power limited via realities of, 337–8
women in workforce and, 93–4
and working conditions, 92–3, 94
Global Terrorism Database, 192, 193
Global Zero, 315–17, 320–21
goal-directed behaviors, 21–2. See also purpose, absence of in nature
Gobineau, Arthur de, 398
God
anthropomorphic, reason and rejection of, 8
arguments for the existence of, refuted, 421
deism, 8, 18, 22, 422, 430
pantheism, 8, 422
as testable hypothesis, 422, 423, 428
See also religion; theism and theistic morality
Golden Rule, 412
Goldman, Emma, 400
Goldstein, Joshua, 160, 429
Goldstein, Rebecca Newberger, xix, 421, 429, 455nn4,7, 456n17, 474n7, 485n104, 487nn3,5, 488nnn32,42,45, 489n54
Goodman, Paul, 456n1
Google searches, prejudice revealed through, 217–19, 218, 339–40, 471n13
Gopnik, Adam, 408
Gorbachev, Mikhail, 316
Gordon, Robert, 329
Gore, Al, 122, 145–6, 255, 382, 465n76
Goths, 398
Gottschall, Jonathan, 408
Gould, Stephen Jay, 394, 486n32
government
climate change response, role in, 141, 145–6, 148, 149–50, 152
economic inequality amelioration by, 119
Enlightenment ideal of, 12
environmental protection, role in, 133–4, 136
evidence-based policy (behavioral insights), 381
famine exacerbated by, 78, 459nn35–36
nurturing role of, 108
regulations, 90, 335
regulations compatible with markets, 364, 365
terrorism, overreactions to, 197
theocracy, 201
utilitarian principles for, 416–17, 418
vehicle safety regulations, 177–8
violent crime rates and legitimacy of, 174
voice in, and emancipative values, 224
workplace safety regulations, 186, 187
See also authoritarian governments; colonial governments; communism; democracy; fascism; freedom; human rights; imperialism; postcolonial governments
Graduated Reciprocation in Tension-Reduction (GRIT), 318, 320, 383
Grass, Günter, 447
gravitas market, 49, 293, 452
Gray, John, 191
Grayling, A. C., 455n4, 484n56, 487n1
Great Britain. See England; United Kingdom
Great Convergence, 85, 90–96, 364, 459n16
Great Depression, 170, 273
Great Escape, 54
becoming Great Convergence, 85, 459n16
capitalism and, 90–91, 364
energy capture and, 24
See also poverty; wealth
Great Leveling/Great Compression, 106, 118
great powers, definition of, 157
Great Recession (financial crisis of 2008)
and disposable incomes/poverty rates, 115, 116
economic inequality and, 97, 112
homicide rate falling during, 170–71
recovery from, 115, 116, 273
suicide rate rise since, 280
Greece, ancient. See classical Greece and Rome
Greece, modern, 108, 200
Greene, Brian, 425
Greene, Graham, 447
Greene, Joshua, 417
Greenpeace, 465n76
Green Revolution, 75–8
Gross World Product, 80–81, 81, 329, 481n13
carbon emissions plateau despite increasing, 144
economic stagnation and, 328, 480n7
as underestimate of prosperity, 81–2
Grüntzig, Andreas, 64
Guatemala, leftist guerrillas in, 158
guinea worm, 65
gun legislation, 176
Guyana, suicide and, 278
Haber, Fritz, 75, 459n18
Hadza people (Tanzania), 23, 53–4, 58, 457n4
Hafer, R. W., 244
Haider, Sarah, 442
Haidt, Jonathan, 373
Haiti, 89, 188
Hamid, Shadi, 442
Hamilton, Alexander, 13
Hammel, Andrew, 210
Hammond, Samuel, 418
Hampton, Keith, 275–6
happiness, 262–89