… Or, as John Humphreys often says, don’t be scared.
Not everything Steven Pinker says in this is right, but most of it is, and it’s a salutary reminder of the gifts bestowed by science, technology, markets and the old trifecta of ‘peace, order and good government.’ More reasons why this little black duck is an unashamed Whig…
It’s just under 20 mins long, so won’t take up too much of your time.
6 Comments
Thanks for that, SL. I broadly agree with the general thrust of what Pinker says and have thought along similar lines for many years.
Having said that I think it would be foolish to see history as the endless march of progress. Up until now such a view may be OK in a broad brush sense but it misses plenty of the ugly details. It is also unwise to think the march of progress will inevitably continue. There are indeed plenty of things to be scared about and good reason to think we aren’t equipped to deal with them.
One more point, I know I enjoy poking fun at the foibles and prejudices of literary types but nonetheless I think good literature is invaluable in developing the empathy Pinker talked about.
Sorry for being a blog hog.
Having said that I think it would be foolish to see history as the endless march of progress.
Telelogy, it pollutes so much of our thinking. Here’s a game to play, imagine that “intentionality” is an illusion, then try to think about our place in the universe.
And this is very true! (Sorry we’re all riffing off your comment, Mel, but there you go). I have long thought societies can go backwards, fast, given something of a perfect storm of circumstances.
SL@4 said “I have long thought societies can go backwards, fast, given something of a perfect storm of circumstances.”
Yep. Just ask the funky Gibbon… reading that shows a solid millenium of regress, and if you think a millenium is a fair sample… (Hmmm, Atlantis explained) …. then it’s about time to start practicing with the clubs and flint axes.
A classic case of a society going backwards fast is the Roman empire. Although it probably didn’t happen that fast in practice. More of a slow decay.