Who recommended Enlightenment Now?

19 people have recommended Enlightenment Now in the interviews, articles and reading lists we track, including Bill Gates, Jordan Peterson, Michael Mauboussin and Andrew Wilkinson. Each name links to their full reading list.

Is Enlightenment Now worth reading?

19 people we track recommend it. It is best for: A policy analyst tired of hearing that everything is getting worse, needing ammunition for a briefing that long-term trends are positive.; A high school history teacher designing a unit on modernity who wants to show students that progress is measurable, not just ideological.; A tech entrepreneur feeling cynical about global politics who seeks a rationalist antidote to the daily news cycle.. It may not suit: If you believe systemic injustices outweigh aggregate trends, you'll likely put the book down when Pinker brushes aside inequality as a secondary concern.; You'll lose patience if you prefer narrative storytelling over a barrage of graphs and summary statistics, as the book reads more like a scientific report than a human account.; Annoying if you find progress narratives tone-deaf, as the book often equates data trends with moral satisfaction, leaving little room for grief or anger at current suffering..

What books are like Enlightenment Now?

Readers of Enlightenment Now also turn to The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, The World as It Is and Out of Control, based on the lists and recommenders these books share.

Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker: Recommended by 19 People

Name: Enlightenment Now
Author: Steven Pinker
ISBN: 9781432853167

A New York Times Bestselling AuthorIs the world falling apart? Is progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and follow the data. In seventy-five jaw-dropping graphs, Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise worldwide. Far from being a naïve hope, the Enlightenment has worked.