Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress

“The ideals of the Enlightenment are products of human reason, but they always struggle with other strands of human nature: loyalty to tribe, deference to authority, magical thinking, the blaming of misfortune on evildoers.”

Pinker identifies reason as the Enlightenment’s main value and contribution to society. He contrasts reason with other human impulses, such as tribalism, superstitions, and scapegoating. To support his views, he provides examples of how “other strands of human nature” fostered violence and oppression, while reason has helped advance society.

“A humanistic sensibility impelled the Enlightenment thinkers to condemn not just religious violence but also the secular cruelties of their age, including slavery, despotism, executions for frivolous offenses such as shoplifting and poaching, and sadistic punishments such as flogging, amputation, impalement, disembowelment, breaking on the wheel, and burning at the stake.”

The author credits Enlightenment thinkers’ humanism with helping enact a “Humanitarian Revolution” because their arguments emphasized individuals’ sentience and capacity to think and feel. Without this perspective, Pinker feels, society would still endorse violent practices like torture and slavery. This quote paints a brutal picture of the past and underscores the importance of Enlightenment thinking in making such practices unimaginable to modern society.

“The Law of Entropy is widely acknowledged in everyday life in sayings such as ‘Things fall apart,’ ‘Rust never sleeps,’ ‘Shit happens,’ ‘Whatever can go wrong will go wrong,’ and (from the Texas lawmaker Sam Rayburn) ‘Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.’ Scientists appreciate that the Second Law is far more than an explanation of everyday nuisances. It is a foundation of our understanding of the universe and our place in it.”

Pinker references various sayings to show how people experience the Law of Entropy, also known as the Second Law, which states that disorder constantly threatens order. The author describes this law as one of the major forces of the universe, and notes that human society is always trying to make progress in spite of it.