Steven Pinker: ‘The way to deal with pollution is not to rail against consumption’

The feather-ruffling Harvard psychologist ’s new book, a defence of Enlightenment values, may be his most controversial yet• Read an extract from Enlightenment Now hereSay the word “enlightenment” and it tends to conjure images of a certain kind of new-age spiritual “self-improvement”: meditation, candles, chakra lines. Add the definite article and a capital letter and the Enlightenment becomes something quite different: dead white men in wigs.For many people, particularly in the west, reaching a state of mindful nirvana probably seems more relevant to their wellbeing than the writings of, say, Immanuel Kant and Adam Smith. But according toEnlightenment Now, a new book by the celebrated Harvard cognitive psychologistSteven Pinker, this is precisely where we ’re getting our priorities wrong.Continue reading...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - February 11, 2018 Category: Science Authors: Andrew Anthony Tags: Steven Pinker Science and nature Books Psychology Environment Poverty Inequality Culture Source Type: news