Enlightenment Now, A Better World, Writing Assignment
Enlightenment Now
Stephen Pinker wrote The Better Angels of Our Nature (2011) to show that, contrary to constant news reports about war, crime, and terrorism, violence in the world has been steadily declining, and Enlightenment Now (2018) to show that, contrary to endless commentary on the enormous problems facing humanity, people around the world are living longer, healthier, and lives.
For an introduction to Pinker’s claims, read the interview by Brian Bethune; for independent confirmation that the world is indeed getting better, read Steve Denning’s article, which was written before Enlightenment Now was published.
Based on these articles, answer the following topic question:
What do you think of Pinker’s claim that the world is becoming a better place?
Focus on what you find in these articles that is interesting, inspiring, annoying, misleading, etc.
References
https://www(dot)macleans(dot)ca/society/steven-pinker-the-world-is-getting-better-not-worse-seriously/
https://www(dot)forbes(dot)com/sites/stevedenning/2017/11/30/why-the-world-is-getting-better-why-hardly-anyone-knows-it/#773867e17826
A Better World
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A Better World
The world has and is still evolving into a better and more habitable place. However, the human race has adamantly believed that the world is in a downward spiral. A closer inspection of our current living situation tells a different story: a story that vividly shows an improvement in our living conditions. Looking around, levels of poverty have reduced, there are better healthcare systems, literacy levels have gone up, and violence is at an all-time low. These are but a few pointers that Steven Pinker bases his theory about the world becoming a better place in his controversial book ‘Entitlement Now.’
A century ago, only a handful of people knew how to read and write. Today, many people know how to read and write, and different economic aspects of the world have a great influx of professionals. Innovation has also helped transform the world, and there appears to be more with aspects like artificial intelligence yet to be fully exploited. This is an indication that we are moving in the right direction. However, such minor concepts rarely capture people’s attention because they are overshadowed by the emerging negative stories like terrorism often propagated by the media (Denning, 2017).
Another pointer that shows the world is taking a turn for the best is the improvement in people’s living conditions. The number of homeless people and street families has been falling every day. Undoubtedly, the evolving world is walking out of the paws of poverty. The pessimistic nature of people still claims that most poverty is a major global issue. Few, however, pay attention to the statistics, and the truth is that the number of people living in extreme poverty is decreasing (Bethune, 2018). This means that, yes, there are still poor people ...
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