Not meaning to offend, but you're kind of leading in to exactly why Pinker writes the book.
(the benefits of science and humanism) is an idea worth exploring and defending
He explores and defends those pursuits.
I don't think collecting a bunch of measures of progress and saying "see, humanism + science works!" is the best way of doing it.
It's at the very least an objective method that doesn't rely on flimsier propositions. You use the phrase "measures of progress" which are a great way to measure progress...
I'd rather see someone approach the problem by focusing on what is lacking, what are the major outstanding problems and then demonstrate that these problems persist because we have not attempted to tackle them using science to guide practice and humanism to guide our values.
He never disputes that there are still issues, he's just saying that if you only ever focused on things that are missing, you might lose an appreciation for the progress humanity has made.
If you only watched the news (which he specifically rails against), you'd think we were going to hell in a hand basket. Of course we still have issues, but to buy into the "end is nigh" mentality espoused by the media and plenty of people (and some commenters here!) would be to ignore a wide variety of indications that humanity's scientific and social progress are improving.
Comments
Not meaning to offend, but you're kind of leading in to exactly why Pinker writes the book.
He explores and defends those pursuits.
It's at the very least an objective method that doesn't rely on flimsier propositions. You use the phrase "measures of progress" which are a great way to measure progress...
He never disputes that there are still issues, he's just saying that if you only ever focused on things that are missing, you might lose an appreciation for the progress humanity has made.
If you only watched the news (which he specifically rails against), you'd think we were going to hell in a hand basket. Of course we still have issues, but to buy into the "end is nigh" mentality espoused by the media and plenty of people (and some commenters here!) would be to ignore a wide variety of indications that humanity's scientific and social progress are improving.