Who recommends it
- Andrew CraigInterview
Wow. These questions are HARD! If the focus is on showing us in the best possible light, then I would probably go for The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley, Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker and Abundance by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler. If I can add one more, it’d be Factfulness by Hans and Ola Rosling.
- Dawson ChurchInterview
I read many science books every year. My current favorites are Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker and Darwin Comes to Town by Menno Schilthuizen. I’ve also become hooked on a series of 19th-century naval novels by an author named David Donachie, and they feature an endearing yet infuriating character called John…
- William von HippelInterview
I’m finishing up several books: Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker, The Origins of Political Order by Francis Fukuyama, Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance, and Moral Origins by Christopher Boehm.
- A.J. JacobsInterview
I think we should all read Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker. The thesis is that, despite the daily flood of negative news, the world is actually improving over the long term (less poverty, longer lives, etc.) I don’t agree with everything, but it’s an important tonic against nihilism and despair.
- Rebecca GoldsteinInterview
Enlightenment Now: The case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker. We have a great tendency to take for granted the progress that we’ve made, over the course of human history. Pinker argues that it’s been science and reason, including moral philosophy, which have steadily and cumulatively…
- Jordan MechnerInterview
Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker. My brother recommended it, and he’s got a good track record.
- Annie DukeInterview
Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker is sitting on my shelf. I’m very excited to read it because I like the way he makes you think. I’m particularly interested in reading what he has to say about progress, because that’s a contrarian view these days, and I like reading contrarians.
- Barbara TverskyInterview
More recently I’ve shifted to non-fiction. Since Gödel Escher Bach by Douglas Hofstader and The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker and Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, more and more eminent scholars have discovered they are also excellent communicators to the public. I read linguistics and cultural history and…
Often recommended alongside
Sapiens
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Man’s Search for Meaning
Homo Deus
The Wizard of Oz
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