Pessimism in a World of Increasing Abundance (Steven Pinker)
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- Опубліковано 4 січ 2015
- www.cato.org/events/everything...
Evidence from academic institutions and international organizations shows dramatic improvements in human well-being. These improvements are especially striking in the developing world. Unfortunately, there is often a wide gap between reality and public perceptions, including that of many policymakers, scholars in unrelated fields, and intelligent lay persons. To make matters worse, the media emphasizes bad news, while ignoring many positive long-term trends.
Video produced by Caleb O. Brown and Austin Bragg.
I am GRATEFUL for flush toilets. The plumber who was at my house yesterday is one of my many heroes!!!
He ended with a real money shot:
"because I believe that being an educated person means thinking statistically and quantitatively, and our intellectual elite just don't do that. "
Seriously. I would also argue that thinking statistically is one of the best things people can do to better their personal lives.
It wasn't until I first read some Thomas Sowell that I became aware of either just how alike he and Pinker think, or else how influenced by Sowell Pinker's thinking has been.
I'm with Schopenhauer. The fact that life is less dangerous really is meaningless. It's the lack of personal meaning that causes pessimism. Going shopping only works for so long. That and the fact that we think too much.
Where can i buy a Pinker wig?
The English law society.
I greatly admire Professor Steven Pinker. I had the pleasure of meeting him and getting his book "The Better Angels of Our Nature" signed. Phenomenal intellect.
that's lucky indeed!
eh
this kind of interview should be shared in many TV channels.. i just retwited ! thanks!
Thank you Mr. Brown, Pinker, and CATO for this!
Pinker is a hero of mine. His The Moral Animal is for me one of the most transformative reads.
It's perhaps pointless to respond to a comment posted 9 years ago, but the book you mentioned is not written by Pinker. It's written by Robert Wright. The Wikipedia page mentions that Steven Pinker is quite fond of the book.
Pinker has made a great body of data known to society and we should be grateful. What seems to be missing from the conversation is that violence, illness, and death have been reduced at a price, and that price is an integrated, top-heavy system. I would not go so far as to say that the latter is necessary for the former, but that is the trade that has been made such that while we live longer with less feer of violence and disease, we are a society of individuals who often feel devoid of power and go through existential crises that become the new norm.
Thumbs up and put on favorites.
The last comment is the most salient comment. We live in a world in which "experts" don't think quantitatively. It's a real shame.
Brilliant.
steven pinker
Oh heavenly father we thank you for guiding Thomas Crapper to invent the flush toilet, and this meal I'm about to eat. AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AH AMEN ALREADY!
I'm a Quaker? So what
Jesse w Identity politics wherever possible. It's how people try to make themselves immune to criticism.
TV MAKES US NEUROTIC - ESPECIALLY SINCE 911
pinker is so great. love to listen to him. but...did he get botox
KidScipio He wouldn't be able to wrinkle his forehead!
And nukes. The nuclear peace model is unfortunately also true. If we did not have nukes, we would have certainly had another world war by now.
Pinkers philosophy: You dont have cancer, its just chronic migraine, so why arent you happy??
This guy always seems to really miss the point...
What abundance? Most people struggle to cope with rent, but obviously Pinker has no such problems. It's easy to live in a bubble.
And that is exactly the bubble you live in. "Most" people on Earth do not cope with fucking rent. They cope with deadly diseases, lack of food, hygiene, freedom of speech, excessive crime rates, religious brainwashing and so on. I struggle with rent pretty hard too, but I am damn sure I am better off than 80% of the worlds population.
This man really has no idea of his place in nature, what the exponential function is, what resources are and that they are quite finite on a finite sphere. I would pay money to see the look on his face when he does all get it. Cato 'institute': a great exponent of the madhouse that is 'humanity'.
Hahahahaha this aged poorly
Unfortunately Steven Pinker is wrong. Here is why. Since 1880 wages have been flat for the poor and middle class, but for the top 5% their wealth is increased from $8 trillion to $40 trillion since 1980. Not so before 1980.
The US has the highest income any quality of any industrialized country. Not so before 1980.
The U.S. has far and away the highest rates of poverty in the developed world. In addition, the extent of U.S. income and wealth inequality also tends to be extreme when compared to other industrialized countries. Not so before 1980.
The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Not so before 1980.
Americas fourth on the list of highest homicide countries in the world.
22% of kids in America live in poverty. Second to Mexico. Not so before 1980.
The US is also the only advanced economy in the world not to have full health coverage of its population.
50,000 Americans die each year because of lack of healthcare. Not before 1980.
Child mortality is higher in the US than any other advanced economy. Not so before 1980.
Americans also live shorter lives: Average US life expectancy is 78.8 years, nearly two years less than the OECD average. Not so before 1980.
The US also stands out as one of the only countries in the world where maternal mortality has increased, rather than decreasing, over the past 15 years. Not so before 1980.
The oceans are massively polluted. Not so before 1980.
Climate change is it a critical level. Not so before 1980.
There were more mass shootings across the U.S. in 2019 than there were days in the year. Mass shootings of skyrocketed since 1980. Not so before 1980.
Steven Pinker’s argument is that free market capitalism has lifted people out of poverty. His argument for this is that the daily wage for 1 billion people has increased from $1.25 to $1.90 over the last forty years wow! What Steven Pinker doesn’t tell you is that an order for somebody to survive, barely, you need an income per day of $7.50. Also he doesn’t factor in inflation. Lastly, if it’s taken 40 years for people to increase their wealth by $.80 cent per day, how long is it gonna take for these people to have a daily wage of $10 per day for example, which is still crap. Steven Pinker is living in a fantasy world. He’s a Neoliberal/conservative. My advice is don’t listen to him.
"because I believe that being an educated person means thinking statistically and quantitatively"
"what causes things to get better (in statistical and quantitative terms)?"
"democratic franchise, OR free markets, OR international institutions....no causal factor has been identified...it's indeterminate"
Attacking straw men is no substitute for coherence. Pinker is babbling. If you take anything from this interview, you have deceived yourself.