Bank Holiday Monday book review – Enlightenment Now, by Stephen Pinker

Reviewed by Ian Carter

The premise of this book is that by almost any metric you care to choose, things have got better for humans as a result of the scientific revolution and ‘progress’ driven by research, industry and wealth creation. It’s hard to argue with the logic. We live longer, enjoy better healthcare, are better educated, less likely to die violently and less likely to be victims of crime. We work less, play more, have more choice and we are happier (as far as this is possible to measure). For all these things, and more, there is hard data to prove the point and the graphs presented in the book tell a convincing story. Even wealth inequality has tended to reduce over time though it is interesting that both the US and UK have bucked that particular trend in recent decades. All things considered, if you were able to choose the timing of your appearance on this planet (being assigned a random country to live out your life) you would do well to choose now.

This undeniable progress is at odds with the way most people view the world. Why is this? Primarily it is the innate human tendency to pay attention to things that are disturbing and unsettling. We are naturally drawn to headlines and images depicting violence, crime, cruelty, unfairness and poverty – and the less common these things become, the more they make the headlines. Violent crime may reduce in nine years out of ten but it is the tenth year that grabs all the attention. The use of food banks often makes the headlines in Britain. Yet, consider a hypothetical newspaper headline trumpeting the fact that the number of people in extreme poverty fell by over 100,000 worldwide. It could have run every day for the last 30 years and it is backed up by good evidence. Progress, by its very nature, is largely gradual and slips by unnoticed while blips in the graph are irresistible to headline writers – and readers.

Although we are programmed to focus on the most disturbing aspects of current events, we tend towards the opposite outlook when thinking about the past – the good bits are remembered fondly, while the unpleasant experiences are more likely to be erased from memory. These unfortunate deceptions, inherent in human nature, help to explain the discrepancy between reality and our state of mind. Take the result of the EU referendum as an example. Many older voters harked back fondly to a supposed golden age when we were poorer, less well educated, less tolerant, more racist and homophobic, worked longer hours, breathed in more pollutants and died younger. Many of them felt the need to vote for change.      

The book does not seek to dismiss or underplay all the suffering and problems that remain. His point is that progress is pushing things relentlessly in the right direction and the more we appreciate that, the more likely we are to continue along the same path. An alternative approach is suggested by those with a more negative outlook. The idea of tearing down the current, apparently broken, institutions and starting again, espoused by populist leaders and some on the far left and right of politics is based, he argues, on an underappreciation of all that has been achieved. This book is his defence of progress.

While it’s hard to argue with his main thesis I was impatient to get to the chapter on the environment and wondered how he would deal with the destruction of wildlife habitats and the threat from climate change. Things may be getting measurably better for humans in many ways but what about everything else, and is our progress sustainable?  Here, as expected, he is on much weaker ground.

He sees recent efforts to help conserve wildlife as part of the progress humanity has made but he overplays its achievements. The proportion of land and sea set aside for conservation may well have increased in recent decades but that hardly negates the fact that so much has already been lost. In similar vein, he highlights high-profile species that have been pulled back from the brink of extinction by human efforts, while largely ignoring the increasingly long list of species that have already gone for good. One graph celebrates the decline in annual hectarage loss of temperate forests from pre-1700s to the present day, when in most temperate countries a quick glance out of the window will reveal the reason – there simply isn’t much left to lose. A similar sleight of hand is applied to the loss of tropical forests. Ultimately, he acknowledges that the loss of some species and wildlife habitats is the inevitable consequence of the earth supporting a large number of people who wish (and who doesn’t?) to live in comfort. That is not to say we shouldn’t do more to protect as much as we possibly can of what is left.  

On climate change he is equally scathing about the radical protesters with their ‘unhelpful fatalism’ and desire to dismantle the current system, and the deniers, driven by selfish, short-term vested interests. He seeks the middle ground; acceptance and ownership of the problem, combined with cooperation and further scientific progress to help provide solutions. He makes the point that, based on past experience (rather than blind optimism), we have good reason to believe that advances in knowledge and technology will help us out in the coming decades. His optimism stretches to some developments that are already starting to become apparent. He suggests, for example, that we may be edging towards peak ‘stuff’ as well as peak oil and peak population. Yes, few of us can now live without a smartphone, but we may no longer own an answering machine, phone book, calculator, road atlas, torch, dictionary, cassette recorder and 20 other items that were once deemed essential.

Environmental concerns represent one of the greatest challenges to his defence of progress and yet they are dealt with in one short chapter early on in the book. While he can’t be accused of ducking the issue entirely, you sense he is relieved to be able to get it out of the way before moving swiftly on to safer ground. As with most political manifestos, the environment receives less attention than it deserves and it is the weakest link in his defence of human progress. That will surprise few readers of this blog.

The final chapters examine the complex relationship between science and reasoning on the one hand, and politics and popular culture on the other. Anyone interested in campaigning or communicating the results of science to a wider audience will find his analysis useful. There are some dispiriting messages about the distrust of experts and science more generally. But, ultimately, he holds on to his optimism about the future. Despite all the problems faced by humanity he believes continued progress is likely. But for concerns about the environment it would be easy to agree.     

Enlightenment Now: the case for reason, science, humanism and progress by Stephen Pinker is published by Penguin.

Remarkable Birds by Mark Avery is published by Thames and Hudson – for reviews see here.

Inglorious: conflict in the uplands by Mark Avery is published by Bloomsbury – for reviews see here.

[registration_form]