Podcasts about enlightenment now the case

How psychologist Dan Gilbert went from high school dropout to Harvard professor, found the secret of joy, and inspired Steve Levitt's divorce. SOURCE:Daniel Gilbert, professor of psychology at Harvard University. RESOURCES:"What the Data Says (and Doesn't Say) About Crime in the United States," by John Gramlich (Pew Research Center, 2020).Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, by Stephen Pinker (2018)."Mistakenly Seeking Solitude," by Nicholas Epley and Juliana Schroeder (Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2014)."Just Think: The Challenges of the Disengaged Mind," by Timothy D. Wilson, David A. Reinhard, Erin C. Westgate, Daniel T. Gilbert, Nicole Ellerbeck, Cheryl Hahn, Casey L. Brown, and Adi Shaked (Science, 2013)."The End of History Illusion," by Jordi Quoidbach, Daniel T. Gilbert, and Timothy D. Wilson (Science, 2013).Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending, by Elizabeth Dunn (2013)."If Money Doesn't Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren't Spending It Right," by Elizabeth W. Dunn, Daniel T. Gilbert, and Timothy D. Wilson (Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2011).This Emotional Life, by Daniel Gilbert (2010).Stumbling on Happiness, by Dan Gilbert (2006)."Affective Forecasting," by Timothy D. Wilson and Daniel T. Gilbert (Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 2003). EXTRAS:"Drawing from Life (and Death)," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023)."Who Gives the Worst Advice?" by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021)."Sendhil Mullainathan Thinks Messing Around Is the Best Use of Your Time," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021)."Am I Boring You?" by Freakonomics Radio (2015).

List of the six books in question: 1) Steven Pinker (2018). Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. 2) Eric J. Johnson (2021). The Elements of Choice: Why the Way We Decide Matters. 3) Pascal Bruckner (2010). The Tyranny of Guilt: An Essay on Western Masochism. 4) Bernard Lewis (1995). The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years. 5) David Robson (2019). The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes. 6) Savannah Gibson (2019). The Spirit of Inquiry: How One Extraordinary Society Shaped Modern Science. _______________________________________ If you appreciate my work and would like to support it: https://subscribestar.com/the-saad-truth https://patreon.com/GadSaad https://paypal.me/GadSaad To subscribe to my exclusive content on Twitter, please visit my bio at https://twitter.com/GadSaad _______________________________________ This clip was posted on July 18, 2024 on my YouTube channel as THE SAAD TRUTH_1709: https://youtu.be/JbgI6JlpCXQ _______________________________________ Please visit my website gadsaad.com, and sign up for alerts. If you appreciate my content, click on the "Support My Work" button. I count on my fans to support my efforts. You can donate via Patreon, PayPal, and/or SubscribeStar. _______________________________________ Dr. Gad Saad is a professor, evolutionary behavioral scientist, and author who pioneered the use of evolutionary psychology in marketing and consumer behavior. In addition to his scientific work, Dr. Saad is a leading public intellectual who often writes and speaks about idea pathogens that are destroying logic, science, reason, and common sense.  _______________________________________

Is it better to be rational or optimistic? Steven Pinker explains. There is no force in the Universe called progress. But there are plenty of natural forces that seem to only make it harder for us to make progress as a species, such as disease, the laws of entropy, and the dark sides of human nature. So, what pushes humanity forward in the face of all these obstacles? To the psychologist Steven Pinker, the answer is rationality: When people use their reasoning skills and other cognitive abilities to help improve the lives of others, the result is progress. From pseudoscience to religious extremism, irrational beliefs can cause real harm. That's why Pinker argues that society would be better off if more people learned to be more rational. Chapters for Easier Navigation:- 0:00 The bad news: reality 0:39 The good news: rationality 1:26 How rational are we? 3:04 Even Americans, though? (Rationality inequality) 4:45 The pinnacle of human rationality 5:45 How can you teach critical thinking? How? ----------------------------------------------------- About Steven Pinker: Steven Pinker is an experimental psychologist who conducts research in visual cognition, psycholinguistics, and social relations. He grew up in Montreal and earned his BA from McGill and his PhD from Harvard. Currently Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard, he has also taught at Stanford and MIT. He has won numerous prizes for his research, his teaching, and his nine books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Sense of Style, and Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think:- ►Become a Big Think Member Get exclusive access to full interviews, early access to new releases, Big Think merch and more ►Get Big Think+ for Business Guide, inspire and accelerate leaders at all levels of your company with the biggest minds in business ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steven Pinker is a world-renowned cognitive psychologist, and is widely regarded as one of the most important public intellectuals of our time. His work delves into the complexities of cognition, language, and social behavior, and his research offers a window into the fundamental workings of the human mind.  Pinker, who is the author of nine books including Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress and Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters, approaches his work with a kind of data-driven optimism about the world that has set him apart from the chorus of doomer voices we hear so much from in our public discourse.    Today, we talk to Pinker about why smart people believe stupid things, the psychology of conspiracy theories, free speech and academic freedom, why democracy and enlightenment values are contrary to human nature, the moral panic around AI, and much more. The Free Press earns a commission from any purchases made through Bookshop.org links. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The formula for rational thinking explained by Harvard professor Steven Pinker. In his explanation of Bayes' theorem, cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker highlights how this type of reasoning can help us determine the degree of belief we assign to a claim based on available evidence. Bayes' theorem takes into account the prior probability of a claim, the likelihood of the evidence given the claim is true, and the commonness of the evidence regardless of the claim's truth. While Bayes' theorem can be useful for making statistical predictions, Pinker cautions that it may not always be appropriate in situations where fairness and other moral considerations are important. Therefore, it's crucial to consider when Bayes' theorem is applicable and when it's not. Chapters:- 0:00 What is Bayesian thinking? 1:01 The formula 2:41 When Bayes' theorem obscures the solution 4:25 Bayes' theorem in a nutshell --------------------------------------------------------- About Steven Pinker: Steven Pinker is an experimental psychologist who conducts research in visual cognition, psycholinguistics, and social relations. He grew up in Montreal and earned his BA from McGill and his PhD from Harvard. Currently Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard, he has also taught at Stanford and MIT. He has won numerous prizes for his research, his teaching, and his nine books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Sense of Style, and Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. ------------------------------------------------------------- About Big Think | Smarter Faster™ ► Big Think The leading source of expert-driven, educational content. With thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, Big Think helps you get smarter, faster by exploring the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century. ► Big Think+ Make your business smarter, faster: https://bigthink.com/plus/ Get Smarter, Faster With Interviews From The Worlds Biggest Thinkers. Follow This Podcast And Turn On The Notifications Rate Us With 5 Stars Share This Episode --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bigthink/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Harvard professor Steven Pinker explains that everyone suffers from this rationality error. Cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker argues that while the Enlightenment ideals of using knowledge to enhance human well-being are not inherently natural to us, they are vital for societal progress. But one obstacle standing in front of greater progress centers on game theory, particularly situations involving the tragedy of the commons. The tragedy of the commons describes a predicament in which individuals independently pursue their own interests, leading to the overexploitation and eventual depletion of a shared resource, ultimately harming everyone's well-being. According to Pinker, one example of a tragedy of the commons lies within what we choose to believe in public. An individual might be incentivized to believe in something because it will make them look good to people in their circle. But if enough people behave in this way, the likely consequence is that fewer people will be incentivized to earnestly search for truth. Still, Pinker maintains a hopeful outlook. He cites advancements in science and morality as evidence of progress, and he argues that humanistic values hold an inherent advantage, as they appeal to universal human desires and shared experiences. Chapters:- 0:00 Knowledge: It's unnatural 1:17 Game theory's ‘tragedy of the commons' 1:59 The rationality commons 2:55 Is there hope for civilization? About Steven Pinker: Steven Pinker is an experimental psychologist who conducts research in visual cognition, psycholinguistics, and social relations. He grew up in Montreal and earned his BA from McGill and his PhD from Harvard. Currently Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard, he has also taught at Stanford and MIT. He has won numerous prizes for his research, his teaching, and his nine books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Sense of Style, and Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. About Big Think | Smarter Faster™ ► Big Think The leading source of expert-driven, educational content. With thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, Big Think helps you get smarter, faster by exploring the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century. ► Big Think+ Make your business smarter, faster: https://bigthink.com/plus/ Get Smarter, Faster With Interviews From The Worlds Biggest Thinkers. Follow This Podcast And Turn On The Notifications Rate Us With 5 Stars Share This Episode --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bigthink/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the second part of our conversation between cognitive psychologist and bestselling author Steven Pinker and academic and podcaster David Runciman, who teaches politics and history at Cambridge University, we rejoin the discussion with the two looking at the roots of skepticism. This interview first appeared on Intelligence Squared in early 2019 at the time of the publication of Pinker's book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. We'd love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be.  Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to podcasts@intelligencesquared.com or Tweet us @intelligence2.  And if you'd like to support our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations, as well as ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content, early access and much more, become a supporter of Intelligence Squared today. Just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For this edition, Intelligence Squared revisits a compelling discussion from 2019 with one of the world's foremost cognitive psychologists, Steven Pinker, whose work often focuses on language, the mind, and human nature. He was joined in conversation by David Runciman, the academic and podcaster who teaches politics and history at Cambridge University, to discuss the themes of Pinker's book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. This is the first half of a two-part conversation. Join us for part two in the following episode. We'd love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be.  Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to podcasts@intelligencesquared.com or Tweet us @intelligence2.  And if you'd like to support our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations, as well as ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content, early access and much more, become a supporter of Intelligence Squared today. Just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

City of God by Saint Augustine of Hippo (Books Three and Four) w/Tom Libby--- Welcome to the City of God Working Smarter: A Leadership Philosophy Injustice vs. Community: A Debate In The Great Books The Tipping Point: When Brute Force No Longer Suffices Parenting with Caution: Lessons Learned Over Time Agreeing to Disagree: Has Social Media Killed Civil Discourse? Good Leadership: Staying True to Yourself and Treating Others Well Clickbait and Personal Responsibility in Decision-Making Intelligence and the Generations: Is There A Cyclical Pattern? Millennials: Facing A New Challenge at Forty Continuous Growth: A Lifelong Commitment to Learning and Leadership Staying on the Path --- We Are Not in ‘Moral Decline' - The Journal Nature - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06137-x -   Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker - https://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Now-Science-Humanism-Progress/dp/0525427570 Rollo Tomassi, "The Death of Debate" Rational Male Substack - https://rationalmale.substack.com/p/the-death-of-debate Episode Trailer - Introduction to City of God by Augustine of Hippo - https://share.transistor.fm/s/cf899a9d Episode #8-City of God – Book One - https://share.transistor.fm/s/4f21ff05 --- Pick up your copy of 12 Rules for Leaders: The Foundation of Intentional Leadership NOW on AMAZON! Check out the 2022 Leadership Lessons From the Great Books podcast reading list! --- Check out HSCT Publishing at: https://www.hsctpublishing.com/. Check out LeadingKeys at: https://www.leadingkeys.com/ Check out Leadership ToolBox at: https://leadershiptoolbox.us/ Contact HSCT for more information at 1-833-216-8296 to schedule a full DEMO of LeadingKeys with one of our team members. --- Leadership ToolBox website: https://leadershiptoolbox.us/. Leadership ToolBox LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ldrshptlbx/. Leadership ToolBox YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJvVbIU_bSEflwYpd9lWXuA/. Leadership ToolBox Twitter: https://twitter.com/ldrshptlbx. Leadership ToolBox IG: https://www.instagram.com/leadershiptoolboxus/. Leadership ToolBox FB: https://www.facebook.com/LdrshpTlbx.

Matt Ridley describes the processes and preconditions of innovation. Follow @IdeasHavingSexx on twitter.Today's book: How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom.More books by Matt.Matt's twitter and website.Matt's recommendations: Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, and The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous Matt's Ted Talk: When Ideas Have Sex.

Life gets busy. Has https://geni.us/enlightenment-now-b (Enlightenment Now) been on your reading list? Learn why the world is a much better place, and why this refreshing message is the key to tackling climate change. (with this book summary) We're scratching the surface here. If you don't already have this bestselling book by Steven Pinker, get the audiobookhttps://geni.us/enlightenment-now-aud ( for free) to learn the juicy details. Get the full text, PDF, audiobook, infographic and animated book summary of this book and hundreds more on the https://www.getstoryshots.com (StoryShots) app: https://www.getstoryshots.com (https://www.getstoryshots.com) Disclaimer: This is an unofficial summary and analysis. StoryShots Book Summary and Analysis of Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven PinkerIntroduction“Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory.” - Franklin Pierce Adams Find out why Bill Gates refers to https://geni.us/enlightenment-now-b (Enlightenment Now) as his new favorite book of all time.  https://geni.us/enlightenment-now-b (Enlightenment Now) is Steven Pinker's follow-up to The Better Angels of Our Nature. The latter asserts that human life is getting healthier and longer. The world is now safer, less violent, and wealthier. Pinker identified six major trends and five historical forces for this change. The most important one is the humanitarian revolution that the Enlightenment and its associated cultivation of reason brought. Enlightenment Now elaborates this argument by using social science data. It shows reason, science and humanism have brought us a general improvement of the human condition over recent history. Humanism is the belief that people can live by reason, rather than religious faith. Pinker explores the nature and importance of reason more in his next book, Rationality. We can use the ideas of the Enlightenment to understand things better and solve climate change - the biggest problem humanity faces. There are grounds to be hopeful about the future, despite the challenges. The world may improve for many more decades if we stick to the values of the Enlightenment. It is refreshing to think the world is a better place and will continue to improve. Join us to find out if you agree with the overarching theme of hope inhttps://geni.us/enlightenment-now-b ( Enlightenment Now). About Steven Pinker Steven Pinker is one of the world's leading authorities on visual cognition and psycholinguistics. He is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Time magazine listed Pinker as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World Today.” Pinker was born in 1954 to a middle-class Jewish family in Montreal, Canada. His grandparents immigrated to Canada from Poland and Romania, and owned a small necktie factory in Montreal. His father was a lawyer, and his mother was a high-school vice-principal.  He received his BA from McGill University and his Ph.D. from Harvard. He has been a psychology professor at MIT and Harvard University.  His popular and highly praised books include The Stuff of Thought, The Blank Slate, Words and Rules, How the Mind Works, and The Language Instinct. He also writes frequently for the New York Times, The New Republic, and other magazines. StoryShot #1: The Enlightenment is The Age of Questioning, Understanding, and Critiquing   The Enlightenment has given us a gift; the notion that reason and science can increase humanity's ability to thrive. Enlightenment's motto, as the German philosopher Immanuel Kant proclaimed, is “Dare to know!”. Its foundational demand is freedom of thought and speech. The Enlightenment period, also known as the Age of Enlightenment, was a philosophical movement prevalent in 18th-century Europe. It sought to question everything. The practitioners believed...

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, we listen back to the Tuesday Spiel about a recent spate of really fabulous news that just gets drowned out by the steady drumbeat of negativity. Then we listen back to Mike's February 26, 2018 interview with Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, who argues that we've had a roughly 300-year run of steady improvements in technology, health, and civility, and that it just so happens that the only thing as constant as human progress is our tendency to focus on human shortcomings. Pinker's interview corresponded with the release of Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his most recent book, Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters, Harvard University cognitive psychologist and noted Jeffrey Epstein associate Steven Pinker argues that “rationality” is what distinguishes good thinkers from bad, that societies which encourage rationality are superior to those that do not, and that making the world a better place requires that we all think more rationally about our past, present, and future. Sounds plausible, right? In making these sweeping claims, though, Pinker wholly ignores relevant research and writing in disciplines such as history, philosophy, and literary and cultural studies, which have already provided crucial insights into the very questions he claims to be answering for the first time. Pinker's “disciplinary drift” is the focus of today's show, in which Calvin and Alex are joined by Dr. Nathan Pensky, a literary scholar and critic who reviewed Pinker's latest for the Chronicle of Higher Education. In the review, Nathan explains why Pinker's wanton disregard for existing humanities scholarship is so galling, and he contrasts this with the approaches of more generative and thoughtful interdisciplinary scholars such as Anil Seth, a cognitive and computational neuroscientist and author of Being You: A new science of consciousness. Unlike Pinker, Seth engages deeply with existing scholarly debates in the humanities–in particular, the field of philosophy of mind–before introducing a STEM innovation that bears directly on philosophers' existing questions. Nathan goes on to argue that Pinker's work is simply more rude than Seth's, reminding us of the value of basic respect and dignity in scholarly writing. To conclude this episode, Alex introduces Nathan and Calvin to a fun new game: “Pinker or Stinker?” He introduces three quotations: two of them are real excerpts from Pinker's latest work of discipline-drifting drivel, and one is a stinker–a fake quote written by Alex in his best imitation of Pinker's trademark style. Will Nathan & Calvin be able to tell the difference? Can you? Play along while you listen, and if you get them all correct, shoot us an email or a Twitter DM to receive your complimentary re:verb t-shirt!ReferencesDwyer, P., & Micale, M. (Eds.). (2021). The Darker Angels of Our Nature: Refuting the Pinker Theory of History & Violence. Bloomsbury Publishing.Pensky, N. (2021, Oct. 29). Steven Pinker's Disciplinary Drift. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Pensky, N. (2021, Dec. 2) Finding the poet of ‘Paradise Lost'. The Boston Globe.Pinker, S. (2021). Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters. Viking. Pinker, S. (2019). Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. Penguin. Pinker, S. (2012). The better angels of our nature: Why violence has declined. Penguin.Seth, A. (2021). Being you: A new science of consciousness. Penguin.

In Episode 34, Gregg welcomes Robert Cobbold. He is a philosopher, educator, and public speaker who has delivered transformative educational experiences to over 40,000 young people worldwide (see here for more). He is founding editor of Conscious Evolution, an online publication and podcast aiming to disseminate the evolutionary worldview, and kindle an evolutionary transition. In this episode, Robert narrates how he had a spiritual awakening several years ago that prompted him on this journey of discovery and the production of the Conscious Evolution podcasts and webpage. He and Gregg then sync this up with UTOK, and explore ways to weave a conscious evolutionary thread together.     Here is the Conscious Evolution podcast series: https://www.consciousevolution.co.uk/ Conscious Evolution Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC--Bf2k7Gf3Q5N--NO45ECg --- Resources mentioned in this episode:

After listening to state/church news and decrying the religious anti-vaxxers, we hear Shelley Segal's song "I Don't Believe in Fairies" from her "Atheist Album." Then we talk with cognitive psychologist, linguist and author Steven Pinker (FFRF's Honorary Chair) about his book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Humanism, Science, and Progress.

In this video I will talk about the Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress book by Steven Pinker. This is a book about human progress, how we should appreciate the life we currently have and why we can be optimistic about the future. Kurzgesagt: How Many People Did Nuclear Energy Kill? Nuclear Death Toll https://youtu.be/Jzfpyo-q-RM Twitter: https://twitter.com/AttilaonthWorld YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCADpTO2CJBS7HNudJu9-nvg

The Gift of Humour 2020. Let’s face it. It’s been a challenging year. Covid has forced us to mask up, distance and sanitize our hands until they are raw. We’ve had to isolate, bubble and some of us have had to learn so much new technology, we could probably talk Apollo 13 down. We’ve faced more ZOOM meetings that we care to think about. Thank goodness for the front line and essential workers who have done everything to keep the rest of us safe. Without them, we would be lost -or worse. Compared to other global catastrophes - war, earthquakes, tsunamis- Covid asked the majority of us to do one thing: stay home. Watching Netflix is not a hardship. It has brought us gems like the latest season of the Crown, and of course, the Queen’s Gambit. If you haven’t seen The Queen’s Gambit, may I say it has renewed my passion for tranquilizers. I mean chess. I’m not good at chess. I have to take a nap after four moves, but this mini-series has inspired me to become a better player as well as, step up my wardrobe game! Netflix was one of the ways that I got the through Covid. I also read a tremendous amount. Three books changed my perspective about the future (and it does look good). You might have read about them in my past blogs- Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress by Steven Pinker and Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About The World and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling. Purpose also got me through Covid. A few years ago, I joined an amazing local organization here in Toronto called City Street Outreach. https://www.citystreetoutreach.org/ Spearheaded by husband and wife, Alex and Grace, City Street Outreach makes it their mission to feed and clothe Toronto’s homeless and most needy. Covid gave me more time to help them. I’m also grateful to family, friends, friends of friends and strangers who chipped in food, clothing, dry goods, time and tax-deductible donations to this worthy cause. Finally, laughter got me through Covid and the US elections. I shared virtual laughter with friends, family, clients and strangers. Experts say that humour and fear are closely linked in our brain. Many times, when we face the unknown, we laugh. Humour is not only a release but it’s also a way of making sense and making fun of the unknown. Covid still remains a huge unknown. I have been blessed to have some very funny people around me. They make me laugh at times when the only other option is to pour a glass of red wine and cry endlessly into my Viggo Mortensen satin pillow. I have been blessed to turn ‘the funny’ into a career and get a chance to share it with others; whether it be through stand-up comedy or motivational speaking. Now, I would like to share the gift of humour this holiday season. If you or someone you know needs to share their humour, feel free to check out my virtual comedy course entitled Stand Up In Ten Steps. https://judycroon.com/services/virtual-comedy-coaching/ I leave no comic behind. Everyone is funny, even the seemingly most boring people, because they usually have a dark side! Whether you are a comedian, a speaker, or someone who just wants to take a fun course, join me. While sharing a laugh, you’ll also get to help someone in need- 25% of proceeds will be donated to City Street Outreach. Happy Holidays. Stay Safe. Laugh Long & Prosper. Judy Croon www.JudyCroon.com

Is the world going to end? I know…not exactly the most hilarious, side- splitting way to open a conversation or a comedy show, for that matter. Ah, remember the good old days when we used to do comedy shows??? Relax, Chicken Little. I bring some good news, even as I write this after a see-saw US election that still hasn’t been completely resolved. This good news comes in the form of two amazing books that coaxed me out from underneath my comforter and back into the real world. Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress by Canadian psychologist Steven Pinker, and Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About The World – And Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Swedish physician and statistician Hans Rosling. Both books are really uplifting and perfect for the challenging times that we are going through. Maybe it’s all fake news? I don’t think so. These books are based upon facts. Remember when we used to care about facts? Also, each book comes with a heavy hitter list of endorsements including two people you might have heard of. Factfulness ‘A hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases.’ ~Barack Obama Enlightenment Now ‘My new favorite book of all time.’ ~Bill Gates I’m no Barack Obama or Bill Gates, but my Goldendoodle Barnie thinks I’m pretty swell. I give 10/10 to both books, too! Okay, great, so Barnie loves you. What are some takeaways from Factfulness? Facts! Lots of good facts! -In the past 20 years, extreme poverty has been cut in half. -60 percent of girls in low income countries finish public school. -80 percent of 1 year-olds in the world have been vaccinated against certain types of disease. (see rest of post) Originally posted on: https://judycroon.com/is-the-world-going-to-end/

Did you know the can opener was invented 50 years AFTER the tin can? So how did they open cans before that? That’s one of the interesting stories about product packaging that kicks off this episode of the podcast. Source: Thomas Hine author of The Total Package (https://amzn.to/3mlNoC1). If you watch the news, you would think the world falling apart and going to hell. Yet it is totally NOT true. Sure, the world has problems not the least of which is the corona virus but when you look at all the indicators of well-being in the world, things are actually going pretty well. . In fact we are living in an age of enlightenment according to Harvard professor Stephen Pinker. Author of the book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science Humanism and Progress, (http://amzn.to/2FKuhNb). Listen as Stephen reveals why things are much better than you probably think. What he says will make you feel great! We all have our own musical tastes and preferences. Where do they come from? What do they say about us. That’s what Nolan Gasser is here to discuss Nolan is a composer and musicologist who was the chief architect of the Music Genome Project, which powers Pandora Radio. He is also author of Why You Like It: The Science and Culture of Musical Taste (https://amzn.to/31BCtfy) What’s the difference between flammable and inflammable? It’s weird because they are two words that sound as if they are opposites but actually mean the same thing. Listen as I explain why one of the words is 400 years older than the other and where it came from. https://www.thoughtco.com/difference-between-flammable-and-inflammable-607314 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Enzo Smrekar, MBA, glavni direktor Atlantic Droge Kolinske in podpredsednik uprave za delikatesne namaze, Donat Mg in internacionalizacijo v Atlantic Grupi ter Manager leta 2020 Enzo Smrekar imaže več kot 30 let izkušenj na področju trženja in managementa, od tega 18 let v multinacionalkah kot so Philip Morris, Diageo in LVMH. Ima podjetniške izkušnje s start up-i s področja management consultinga, marketinga in HRM. V Drogi Kolinski je vodil poslovanje z letnim prometom 350 mio evrov v 4 poslovnih enotah, 6 tržnih enotah in 7 državah s skupno več kot 3000 zaposlenimi. Sodeloval je pri več integracijah in pripojitvah družb (IDV in UD,Droga in Kolinska, Grandprom, Soko Štark) ter pri reorganizaciji skupine DK v sodelovanju z družbo Stearn & Stewart. Leta 2010 je vodil prodajni proces Droge Kolinske, ki je bil uspešno zaključen s prevzemom s strani Atlantic Grupa. Trenutno pa je glavni direktor Atlantic Droge Kolinske in podpredsednika uprave za delikatesne namaze, Donat Mg in internacionalizacijo v Atlantic Grupi. Atlantic Grupa je ena od vodilnih prehranskih podjetij v regiji s skoraj 6.000 zaposlenimi. Med bolj prepoznavnimi blagovnimi znamkami najdemo Argeto, Barcaffe, Cedevito, Grand Kafe, Najlepše želje, Smoki ter mnoge druge. Atlantic Grupa je imela lansko leto skoraj 720 milijonov Eur prihodkov. Atlatnic Grupa je znana tudi po izjemnih dosežkih. Med drugimi, so plače zaposlenih za 44% višje od povprešja panoge. Dodano vrednost zaposlenega je bila kar za 1,5 krat več, kot je povprečje panoge proizvodnje živil, in za enkrat več od povprečja slovenskega gospodarstva. Poleg izjemno bogate karierne poti, pa ima Enzo Smrekar tudi zelo bogato izobrazbo. Svoj MBA je zaključil na IEDC – Poslovni šoli Bled. Svojo izobrazbo je nadgradil z različnimi certifikati in licencami, med njimi CIPD cerftifikat Oxforde Brookse Univerze, Tuff Leadership Traininga. V letu 2019 se je udeležil tudi Harvard Business School, kjer je opravil Advanced Management Program in ga uspešno zaključil. Enzo je tudi predsednik Smučarske zveze Slovenije in podpredsednik slovenskega olimpijskega komiteja ter pred kratkim je postal tudi Manager leta 2020. Naj knjige: True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership, Bill George and Peter Sims; Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, Steven Pinker. Naj serije: Game of Thrones, House of Cards, The Blacklist Hobiji: pohodništvo, glasba Naj hrana: visoka kulinarika Naj appi: Harvard Business Review, Tidal, Summary Trije nauki: 1. Ni formule za uspeh. Poiščite kar vas veseli, kjer vidite strast. Najdite kar imate radi in tukaj vztrajajte in bodite odlični. 2. Bodite avtentični. V časih, kjer so odnosi pomembni, je avtentičnost izredenga pomena. Ugotovitet kdo ste in kaj ste, in bodite zvesti svojim načelom in principom. 3. Potrebno je razumeti, da je treba v današnjem času delati kvalitetno in uspešno, kar potegne za seboj ugled in izpostavljenost, ki sta prav tako izredenega pomena. Za boljše, višje položaje, je potrebno pokazati več kot odlično delo, potrebno je izstopati in biti stalno boljši kot si bil včeraj. *Slovenian Research Agency, Program P5-0364 – The Impact of Corporate Governance, Organizational Learning, University of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business, Slovenia.

We're seemingly losing faith in each other, and that is very dangerous for so many reasons that do not fit in this description. In education, nearly 50% of teachers leave the profession after 5 years, because when a child does poorly on the exam, the assumption is that the teacher is at fault: not the out-dated curriculum, lack of resources, or the fact that they have to be responsible for 100+ students per term. Suspend your assumptions about others, and seek authentic connections with others for yourself, and for everyone else. "Contrary to the impression that you might get from the news, the curves show that humanity has been getting better, that we are living longer, we are fighting fewer wars, and fewer people are being killed in the wars. Our rate of homicide is down. Violence against women is down. More children are going to school, girls included. More of the world is literate. We have more leisure time than our ancestors did. Famines are becoming rarer, so virtually anything that you could measure that you'd want to call human well-being has improved over the last 2 centuries, but also over the last couple of decades" - Steve Pinker's book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, where he tackles assumptions head-on - of our fears that the world is getting less safe, less predictable, less hospitable... https://youtu.be/UhVvWUfDjs4

En este episodio vamos a finalizar el recorrido que iniciamos por los MUNDOS POSIBLES desde tres enfoques que a lo largo de los siglos enriquecieron notablemente la imaginación y las aspiraciones humanas. Hoy nos aproximaremos a la UTOPÍA. ¿Qué es una utopía? ¿Por qué es un concepto importante en torno a la condición humana? ¿Es posible alcanzar su realización algún día? ¿Qué papel juegan la justicia y la libertad en una sociedad con estas características?Con historias interesantes y pluralidad de discursos vamos a intentar responder estas preguntas. PARTE 1: CONOCER LA UTOPÍA.Alguna vez mencioné, en algunos de nuestros episodios anteriores, la tristeza que me producía mirar hacia atrás y ver la historia humana, en general, como la historia de sus conflictos. La escritura nos ha permitido conservar desde hace milenios la evidencia de los acontecimientos más importantes de nuestra especie, aunque ya revisamos en el episodio anterior la importancia de quiénes y para qué son contados los relatos de estos acontecimientos; no obstante, nuestra memoria colectiva permite que tengamos una idea más o menos compartida de quiénes somos y de dónde venimos. Todo ello sirve, claro está, si lo utilizamos para reinterpretar nuestro presente y al mismo tiempo suponer con alguna precisión: hacia dónde vamos. El pasado no existe, es simplemente una suma de relatos que nos contamos pero que ya no están ahí, sin importar cómo ocurrieron, no están!, el futuro tampoco existe, es un conjunto de suposiciones y especulaciones mentales que elaboramos para predecir o dirigir nuestras acciones hacia una meta específica; ni siquiera los algoritmos más sofisticados actualmente pueden profetizar mediante sus cálculos, aspectos complejos de la condición humana. Así pues, nos queda solo el presente, este perpetuo flujo del devenir que experimentamos ininterrumpidamente (Salvo el sueño o la inconsciencia). Nuestra curiosidad natural nos obliga a pensar en qué ocurrirá mañana, qué rumbo tomarán los sucesos que en este presente se constituyen como importantes, desde la política, la economía o la vida cotidiana de cada quien…. Y aunque cada suposición individual está condicionada por el contexto sociocultural, experiencias personales e información retenida sobre el mundo, hay algo que parece manifestarse como una tendencia común: aspiramos a una especie de paraíso terrenal. Deseamos poder vivir en paz, en sociedades igualitarias donde podamos ser libres, al mismo tiempo que felices. Donde no se nos imponga nada por la fuerza y tanto el bien común, como el individual, sean una realidad visible día a día, en cada situación. Todos queremos la mejor parte del pastel o, al menos, una parte del pastel, todos deseamos hacer de nuestros días una aventura diferente y de alguna manera, justificar nuestra vida mediante el disfrute, el placer o el servicio. De hecho hay quienes imaginan que todo esto puede lograrse al mismo tiempo, para todos. No obstante cuando observamos fijamente nuestra realidad, caemos en cuenta de lo estúpido que puede llegar a ser, “perder mucho tiempo en estas ensoñaciones”, ya que estamos tan lejos de ese Edén prometido que conformarnos con no morir muy pronto en la tierra, parecería ser más que suficiente. Está bien, no estoy llevando esto hacia el tono pesimista que parece tener, pero creo que la primera tarea es apoyarnos en la realidad y la verdad, actualmente tenemos muchos factores que nos alertan con vehemencia sobre las acciones que debemos tomar si no queremos continuar dirigiéndonos hacia el precipicio. Las consecuencias desastrosas de un colapso global serían por supuesto desembocar en una Distopía, como lo revisamos en episodios anteriores, sin embargo, también hemos resaltado en diversas oportunidades que el espíritu humano, por su naturaleza misma, se muestra dispuesto tanto a lo más temible de la maldad, como también a los actos de redención más sublimes que puedan pensarse. A simple vista podríamos juzgar mal, pero los datos y la información que podemos recoger gracias a la sofisticación de muchos de nuestros procesos cotidianos nos dicen que hoy, es definitivamente mucho mejor que ayer. Al respecto de cómo vivimos hoy, el Dr. Steven Pinker, quien es un reconocido autor, psicólogo cognitivo y lingüista, ha desarrollado una interesante tesis sobre por qué hoy, a pesar de la creencia popular, las sociedades viven mucho mejor, más organizadas y con menos violencia que hace algunos siglos. Son de notable reconocimiento sus intervenciones en charlas TED, así como sus obras:How the Mind Works (1997)The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011)Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress 2018.“La cuarta explicación fue capturada en el título de un libro llamado The Expanding Circle, por el filósofo Peter Singer quien argumenta que la evolución legó a los humanos un sentido de empatía: la capacidad de tratar los intereses de los otros comparándolos con los propios. Desafortunadamente, siempre lo aplicamos solo a un estrecho círculo de amigos y familiares. Las personas fuera del círculo son tratadas como infrahumanas y pueden ser explotadas con impunidad. Pero en la historia el círculo se ha expandido, se puede ver cómo un registro histórico se expande a partir de la aldea, al clan, a la tribu, a la nación, a otras razas, a ambos sexos y , de acuerdo al mismo Singer, algo que deberíamos ampliar, a otras especies vivas.”La utopía se presenta entonces como una posibilidad, la mejor de todas, donde el ser humano convive en armonía con el entorno y tiene la capacidad de convertirse en la mejor versión posible de sí mismo como especie. Sin embargo, las preguntas fundamentales surgen de inmediato: ¿Quién o quiénes serían los responsables de tomar las decisiones para ordenar una sociedad con estas características? ¿Cómo operaría la justicia? ¿Cómo evitar que algunos abusen de sus posiciones ventajosas sobre otros que confían a ciegas en el sistema?. Son las mismas preguntas que nuestros sistemas actuales no logran responder, así como nosotros mismos demostramos permanentemente que estamos dispuestos a tomar cualquier ventaja que se presente, a veces sin importar el bienestar del otro.  Vivir en una sociedad perfecta o utópica, donde nadie toma lo que no le pertenece, nadie asesina, nadie destruye, nadie crea rumores para herir, en general, nadie padece hambre o necesidades físicas, en general, una sociedad en la que hay de todo para todos … eso es un un sueño, es imaginar lo imposible. Quizás estos ideales nos han permitido alcanzar nuestras mejores versiones actuales de sociedad, tan imperfectas como se presentan, ¿debemos entonces conformarnos? O vale la pena movilizar todo cuanto sea posible para alcanzar la Utopía, es más ¿Cuál Utopía? ¿La que acabas de escuchar? La del vecino?, ¿la del conductor del autobús, o la del alcalde de la ciudad?. Aquí es donde yace una de las grandes dificultades para establecer utopías funcionales y duraderas. Nuestra subjetividad natural hace que tan solo en un aspecto tan fundamental como la Justicia, o el sentido de la justicia como tal, empecemos a tener desacuerdos. SEGUNDA PARTE: EXPLICAR LA UTOPÍA. El cine y la literatura nos han presentado las sociedades utópicas como sinónimo de perfección, equidad y convivencia feliz. Por lo general son comunidades futuristas donde se ha logrado erradicar la pobreza, las enfermedades, la segregación racial o étnica y donde el bien común es simplemente el estado o el orden natural de las cosas. Vale la  pena recordar que algunas de las grandes distopías literarias como Un Mundo Feliz de Aldous Huxley, se presentan bajo la fachada de una utopía, es decir, bajo las capas superficiales de estas sociedades perfectas, donde todos son felices y han derrotado algunas de nuestras dificultades del hoy, se oculta una trama siniestra que evidencia cómo para mantener funcional y operante este aparente sistema perfecto, es necesario el uso de drogas para estimular a la población gestionar un  control totalitario de las libertades personales entre otras medidas. Parece que el precio a pagar para conservar la estabilidad de un sistema de estas características es demasiado alto, o , al menos así lo consideramos desde el conocimiento y la experiencia que nos arroja nuestro presente. La pregunta clave aquí es: ¿Hasta dónde estás dispuesto a realizar sacrificios personales por el bien común?Para concentrarnos en un análisis más aterrizado veamos lo que se entiende comúnmente por utopía: 1.“Plan o sistema ideal de gobierno en el que se concibe una sociedad perfecta y justa, donde todo discurre sin conflictos y en armonía."Tomás Moro acuñó en el siglo XVI la voz ‘utopía’ en una obra del mismo título en la que imaginó una isla desconocida en la que se llevaría a cabo la organización ideal de la sociedad"2. Proyecto, deseo o plan ideal, atrayente y beneficioso, generalmente para la comunidad, que es muy improbable que suceda o que en el momento de su formulación es irrealizable."bajo forma de aspiración íntima, ensueño o utopía, el hombre, simplemente por ser hombre, aspira a su plena felicidad"El término Utopía proviene del griego U-Topos que significa No lugar. Lo usó el inglés Tomás Moro para titular una obra que publicó en 1516 donde proponía la organización del estado en una sociedad que podríamos llamar “perfecta”. Sin embargo, la visión de mejores sociedades ya había sido la inquietud intelectual de pensadores previos. El registro más antiguo y prominente es por supuesto el de Platón, que desarrolló en su diálogo La República, sus propias consideraciones sobre lo que debería ser un estado ideal.  Aquí cabe destacar uno de los ejemplos que, a mi juicio, mejor pueden ilustrar el problema de idealizar sociedades justas. La justicia es un tema que ha ocupado por siglos a los filósofos y no en vano, pues precisamente el sentido de ser justo o bueno, es lo que determina las acciones y las decisiones que a diario ejecutamos. De hecho actuar o no actuar frente a determinada situación, implica el mismo grado de responsabilidad, la inacción también trae consecuencias. En esta paradójica cuestión de la justicia y nuestra natural tendencia a buscar el beneficio propio por sobre el de los demás, Platón propone una historia muy interesante: el Anillo de Giges, es Glauco quien la narra:Dicen que era un pastor que estaba al servicio del entonces rey de Lidia. Sobrevino una vez un gran temporal y terremoto; abrióse la tierra y apareció una grieta en el mismo lugar en que él apacentaba. Asombrado ante el espectáculo, descendió por la hendidura y vio allí, entre otras muchas maravillas que la fábula relata, un caballo de bronce, hueco, con portañuelas, por una de las cuales se agachó a mirar y vio que dentro había un cadáver, de talla al parecer más que humana, que no llevaba sobre sí más que una sortija de oro en la mano; quitósela el pastor y salióse. Cuando, según costumbre, se reunieron los pastores con el fin de informar al rey, como todos los meses, acerca de los ganados, acudió también él con su sortija en el dedo. Estando, pues, sentado entre los demás, dio la casualidad de que volviera la sortija, dejando el engaste de cara a la palma de la mano; a inmediatamente cesaron de verle quienes le rodeaban y con gran sorpresa suya, comenzaron a hablar de él como de una persona ausente. Tocó nuevamente el anillo, volvió hacia fuera el engaste y una vez vuelto tornó a ser visible. Al darse cuenta de ello, repitió el intento para comprobar si efectivamente tenía la joya aquel poder, y otra vez ocurrió lo mismo: al volver hacia dentro el engaste, desaparecía su dueño, y cuando lo volvía hacia fuera, le veían de nuevo. Hecha ya esta observación, procuró al punto formar parte de los enviados que habían de informar al rey; llegó a Palacio, sedujo a su esposa, atacó y mató con su ayuda al soberano y se apoderó del reino.Se concluye entonces que nadie es justo de grado, sino por fuerza y hallándose persuadido de que la justicia no es buena para él personalmente; puesto que, en cuanto uno cree que va a poder cometer una injusticia, la comete. Y esto porque todo hombre cree que resulta mucho más ventajosa personalmente la injusticia que la justicia. TERCERA PARTE: SOÑAR LA UTOPÍASin duda, la justicia y la manera en que deberíamos comportarnos en ausencia del otro, para el otro, es un factor determinante a la hora de pensar en cómo podríamos organizarnos en una hipotética sociedad utópica. Es por ello que volvemos al problema del costo personal o colectivo. El socialismo, por ejemplo, es una utopía, donde todos tienen cuanto necesitan, no hay propiedad privada y no puede generarse la codicia en un entorno de estas características; del otro lado, el capitalismo es también una utopía, donde puedes alcanzar tu libertad solo mediada por el intercambio económico con un estado con poco protagonismo. En el papel, ambas son atractivas y seducen, pero traerlas a la realidad acarrea la imposición y la fuerza y es allí donde el sueño, antes de nacer, se extingue. Sobre este aspecto, el historiador y filósofo Yuval Hararí plantea una interesante idea en su obra 21 lecciones para el Siglo XXI.Como lo mencionamos anteriormente, jugamos permanentemente a la Utopía, no podemos escapar a la naturaleza de nuestra imaginación, que es precisamente con la cual hemos conquistado de muchas formas el mundo en el que vivimos. Si bien es cierto que vivimos en sociedades imperfectas, parece que son, después de siglos de confrontaciones, tensiones y distensiones, la mejor expresión que podemos tener, la mejor versión. Digo “parece” porque tampoco estoy del todo convencido y creo que podríamos alcanzar mejores formas de organización social. Al respecto, esta es la conclusión del Dr. Pinker sobre su idea de bienestar en el presente siglo y cómo está notablemente relacionada con las ideas de Platón sobre la justicia, lo que hacemos mal, pero también, las cosas que medianamente hemos hecho bien:La pregunta es si esto ha ocurrido ¿Qué ha impulsado tal expansión? Y el número de posibilidades sugiere el incremento de los círculos de reciprocidad en el sentido que propone Robert Wright. La lógica de la “Regla de Oro”, entre más pienses acerca de e interactúas con otras personas, más te darás cuenta de que es insostenible privilegiar tus intereses sobre los de ellos, al menos no si quieres que ellos te escuchen. No puedes decir que mis intereses son especiales comparados con los tuyos, tanto como tampoco puedes decir que el punto en particular en el que estoy parado es un lugar único en el universo porque ocurre que estoy parado en él en este preciso momento. También podría estar impulsado por el cosmopolitismo: por historias, periodismo, memorias ficción realista, viajes y alfabetismo, los cuales te permiten proyectarte en las vidas de personas que anteriormente habías tratado como infrahumanos y también darte cuenta de la contingencia accidental de tu situación en la vida; la sensación de que : “me podría haber pasado a mí”. Cualesquiera que sean sus causas, la disminución de la violencia tiene profundas implicaciones. Esto debería forzarnos a preguntar  preguntar no solo ¿por qué hay guerra? Sino también ¿Por qué hay paz? No solo ¿Qué estamos haciendo mal? Sino ¿qué hemos estado haciendo bien? Porque hemos estado haciendo algo bien y de seguro sería bueno averiguar qué es. Soñar la utopía, ese lugar físico, ese estado de consciencia, ese “algo” que alude a perfección, ese paraíso o cielo al que aspiramos. ¿Es una mala idea? ¿Es una ilusión vana a la que no debemos prestar mayor atención? Es el resultado de nuestro inconformismo, que a la vez es parte de nuestra condición humana?No tengo las respuestas a estas preguntas, pero creo que intentar responderlas desde diferentes ángulos, puede ayudarnos a encontrar caminos de encuentro. Somos casi ocho billones de personas, envueltos día a día en centenares de capas socioculturales. Estamos separados, sí, geográficamente y en la mayoría de casos, por el lenguaje. No obstante compartimos lo esencial de nuestra humanidad, tanto aquello que etiquetemos bueno, como lo malo e inapropiado, las sonrisa de un niño que juega bajo la lluvia en Beirut, las lágrimas de una madre que sepulta a su único hijo en Siria, el corazón agitado de un ingeniero que entrega un puente nuevo conectado dos islotes en Japón, el dolor de un hombre amputado por una mina antipersona en alguna selva de Colombia… La capacidad de imaginar mundos posibles es un rasgo que desarrollamos usando lo mejor que la naturaleza nos ha ofrecido: nuestro cerebro, que conecta pensamientos y estimula emociones gracias a millones de neuronas y neurotransmisores; con cada experiencia que tenemos en el mundo. Soñar la utopía, cualquiera que sea, no debería ser más un acto superfluo, es quizás un ejercicio válido que nos ayude a interpretar mejor nuestro presente para actuar en consecuencia. Soñar la utopía es creer en el otro, al mismo tiempo que intento creer en mi; soñar la utopía no es cerrar los ojos ante la realidad presente, al contrario, es proponer las transformaciones que consideramos necesarias para alcanzarla, de la manera más fiel posible. Soñar la utopía parece un juego de niños… pero no lo es. Es sencillamente, una tarea de los adultos. Tal vez luego de que nosotros la soñemos, ellos solo deban construirla… ...tal vez.Visita nuestro sitio web  https://findelmundopodcast.com/Facebook Fin del Mundo PodcastInstagram @findelmundopodcastTwitter @findelmundopod  LINKS DE REFERENCIA. DISCLAIMERDeclaro que no poseo los derechos totales ni parciales de las citas y piezas de audio externas, su uso en el presente episodio es solo con fines explicativos sobre el tema en cuestión. Los derechos pertenecen a sus creadores y/o productores por lo cual anexo links de referencias a fuentes primarias.Steve Pinker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_PinkerUtopía Tomás Moro https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utop%C3%ADa_(Tom%C3%A1s_Moro)Yuval N. Harari https://www.ynharari.com/Steven Pinker Charla TED

On today's Defence Deconstructed Podcast, we feature a discussion with Douglas Dempster, William Richardson, and Elinor Sloan about a recent Policy Paper they wrote along with Dave Perry and others, "Toward Agile Procurement for National Defence: Matching the Pace of Technological Change," published by the Canadian Defence and Security Network and CGAI. Defence Deconstructed is part of the CGAI Podcast Network and today's episode is brought to you by the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI). Subscribe to and rate the CGAI Podcast Network on your podcast app! Participant Bios: - Elinor Sloan: CGAI fellow. Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science at Carleton University, Ottawa, and is a former defence analyst with Canada's Department of National Defence. She is a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada (BA), the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton (MA), and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University (PhD). - Major-General (Retired) Doug Dempster: served as the Defence strategic planner, and later as NATO Assistant Secretary General for Executive Management and head of the Centre for Executive Leadership at the University of Ottawa. - William Richardson: recently completed his Master's studies at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University. His research focuses include western air power, interoperability and defence procurement. He currently works as a policy analyst at Global Affairs Canada. Host Bio: 

- Dave Perry (host): Senior Analyst and Vice President with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. Recommended Readings:
 - "Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress" by Steven Pinker (https://www.amazon.ca/Enlightenment-Now-Science-Humanism-Progress-ebook/dp/B073TJBYTB) - "The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz" by Erik Larson (https://www.amazon.ca/Splendid-Vile-Churchill-Family-Defiance-ebook/dp/B07TRVW6VX) Related Links: 

- “Toward Agile Procurement for National Defence: Matching the Pace of Technological Change" by William Richardson, Kalen Bennett, Douglas Dempster, Philippe Dumas, Caroline Leprince, Kim Richard Nossal, David Perry, Elinor Sloan and J. Craig Stone (https://www.cgai.ca/toward_agile_procurement_for_national_defence_matching_the_pace_of_technological_change) Recording Date: 10 June 2020 Follow the Canadian Global Affairs Institute on Facebook, Twitter (@CAGlobalAffairs), or on Linkedin. Head over to our website at www.cgai.ca for more commentary. Produced by Jay Rankin. Music credits to Drew Phillips.

You can find Maarten’s scholarly work here: https://ugent.academia.edu/MaartenBoudry Many of Maarten’s more popular articles are available here: https://sites.google.com/site/maartenboudry/blog He is the co-editor with Massimo Pigliucci of the 2013 Philosophy of Pseudoscience: Reconsidering the Demarcation Problem: https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Pseudoscience-Reconsidering-Demarcation-ebook/dp/B00EARH246/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381938709&sr=8-1&keywords=boudry+pigliucci And, also with Massimo Pigliucci, is the co-editor of https://www.amazon.com/Science-Unlimited-Challenges-Maarten-Boudry-ebook/dp/B078BXMPM4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1516100822&sr=8-1&keywords=science+unlimited You can start a conversation with Maarten at Letter here: https://letter.wiki/MaartenBoudry/conversations Follow Maarten on Twitter: @mboudry Further References Maarten’s conversation with Peter Boghossian on the nature of belief at Letter: https://letter.wiki/conversation/22 For more on Popper and the demarcation problem: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pseudo-science/ Larry Laudan, “The Demise of the Demarcation Problem” (1983): https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-009-7055-7_6 Tanner Edis on religious belief and conspiracy theories: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329780971_Cosmic_Conspiracy_Theories_How_Theologies_Evade_Science_From_Genesis_to_Astrobiology See Maarten’s take on Tanner Edis’ paper here, on Jerry Coyne’s blog: https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2019/10/02/why-theological-challenges-to-science-resemble-conspiracy-theories/ H. Benson et al, “Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer”: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16569567 Maarten’s essay on the four flavours of contemporary pessimism can be foud here: https://quillette.com/2019/06/26/four-flavors-of-doom-a-taxonomy-of-contemporary-pessimism/ Steven Pinker, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress (2018) Hans Rosling, with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlund, Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think (2018) Iona’s article on Aarey can be found here: https://areomagazine.com/2019/10/15/the-word-for-world-is-forest-an-ode-to-aarey/ Timestamps 3:38 The demarcation problem and the difference between science and pseudoscience 14:57 Religion and other conspiracy theories 30:31 The four flavours of contemporary pessimism 49:20 Ecomodernism 51:50 Do activists present a greater hurdle to our ability to prevent climate change than denialists?

Steven Pinker in conversation with Terrence McNally at Live Talks Los Angeles discussing his book, "Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress." The talk took place on January 16, 2019 at the Aratani Theatre in Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles. For more information on Live Talks Los Angeles -- upcoming events, more videos and podcast -- visit livetalksla.org

------------------Support the channel------------ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter SubscribeStar: https://www.subscribestar.com/the-dissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter PayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuy PayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l PayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz PayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m PayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao ------------------Follow me on--------------------- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDissenterYT Anchor (podcast): https://anchor.fm/thedissenter Dr. Steven Pinker is a Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. He conducts research on language and cognition, writes for publications such as the New York Times, Time and The Atlantic, and is the author of ten books, including The Language Instinct, How The Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Stuff of Thought, The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Sense of Style, and most recently, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. In this episode, we talk go through some of the main topics Dr. Pinker tackles in his work. We start by discussing a new hypothesis put forth by Joe Henrich and his collaborators, about the possible influence the Catholic Church had on the evolution of our WEIRD psychology and the Enlightenment ideas. We then talk about cultural evolution, morality from an evolutionary perspective, and human progress. We also address if our folk psychology tracks scientific findings on human behavior. We also talk about language, and AI. Finally, we go through two questions coming from a patron, about the cognitive niche hypothesis, and the WEIRD problem. -- Follow Dr. Pinker's work: Faculty page: http://bit.ly/2Nx4rC6 Website: http://bit.ly/3abIVMN ResearchGate profile: http://bit.ly/2RkTcxI Books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2R02Er6 Twitter handle: @sapinker -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, PER HELGE LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, JERRY MULLER, HANS FREDRIK SUNDE, BERNARDO SEIXAS, HERBERT GINTIS, RUTGER VOS, RICARDO VLADIMIRO, BO WINEGARD, CRAIG HEALY, OLAF ALEX, PHILIP KURIAN, JONATHAN VISSER, DAVID DIAS, ANJAN KATTA, JAKOB KLINKBY, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, JOHN CONNORS, PAULINA BARREN, FILIP FORS CONNOLLY, DAN DEMETRIOU, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ARTHUR KOH, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, MAX BEILBY, COLIN HOLBROOK, SUSAN PINKER, THOMAS TRUMBLE, PABLO SANTURBANO, SIMON COLUMBUS, PHIL KAVANAGH, JORGE ESPINHA, CORY CLARK, AND MARK BLYTH! A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, ROSEY, JIM FRANK, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, IAN GILLIGAN, SERGIU CODREANU, LUIS CAYETANO, AND MATTHEW LAVENDER! AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, MICHAL RUSIECKI!

My review of @sapinker's "Enlightenment Now." A mixed bag, as usual with Pinker, lurching wildly from Very Good to Very Bad. (The written version of this review was first published February 16, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available here.)

Today we delve into Steven Pinker's book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress and look at the pace of how our civilization has evolved. We also revisit the Fermi Paradox, named after the Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi. It posits the contradiction between the lack of evidence for extraterrestrial civilizations elsewhere in the Milky Way galaxy and various high estimates for their probability. We draw an analogy between what it takes to create planetary life forms and what it takes to reach enlightenment for ourselves. What does it take to become truly aware of our circumstances in recovery and what does it take to maintain our perspective in our spiritual journey ? Why is it so rare for people to maintain sobriety after treatment ? I hope you enjoy the podcast. This podcast was recorded as a series of lectures given to people in 12 step addiction recovery treatment. The purpose of these talks was to teach and motivate individuals to search for their own spiritual solution to their addiction. Please feel free to contact me directly or go to our site for more information: Please feel free to contact me directly or go to our site for more information: dominic@crrc.co.za www.crossroadsrecovery.co.za +27 012 345 1186 Pretoria +27 010 597 7784 Johannesburg

If you think the world is coming to an end, think again.  People are living longer, healthier, freer, and happier lives, and while our problems are formidable, Steven Pinker believes the solutions lie in the Enlightenment ideal of using reason and science. Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases.  Instead, follow the data: in seventy-five jaw-dropping graphs, Pinker will demonstrate that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West, but worldwide.  This progress is not the result of some cosmic force, it is a gift of the Enlightenment: the conviction that reason and science can enhance human flourishing. But now, more than ever, Enlightenment principles require vigorous defense.  With intellectual depth and literary flair, Enlightenment Now makes the case for reason, science, and humanism: the ideals we need to confront our problems and continue our progress. Find your copy of Steven's book: https://goo.gle/2RPrfxZ  Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/EnlightenmentNow to watch the video.

4:06 Melissa’s Methodist upbringing in Singapore 8:49 Press censorship in Singapore; Singapore society in general 14:30 Why Melissa decided to come and study in the US; her studies in genetics (transcriptomics) 21:50 Her meeting with Faisal al Mutar 24:10 Their secular humanists Facebook page 27:55 On the right way to make tea 35:00 Melissa’s early work with Faisal 36:30 Ideas Beyond Borders 49:45 Literacy in the MENA region 51:55 Bringing a new Enlightenment to the Arab world 1:06:30 The books that most influenced us Find out more about Ideas Beyond Borders here: https://www.ideasbeyondborders.org/; Follow Melissa on Twitter @MsMelChen Other References S. Frederick Starr, Lost EnlightenmentCentral Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane (2015) Steven Pinker, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress (2018) Sam Harris, Lying (2011); The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values (2010) Deeyah Khan, documentary filmmaker: http://deeyah.com/ Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion (2006) David Deutsch, The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations that Transform the World (2011) “Donald Trump” [Tony Schwartz] The Art of the Deal (1987) George Eliot, Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life (1871–2) Annika Harris, I Wonder (2013) Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene (1976) John Rawls, The Theory of Justice (1971) Derren Brown, Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine (2016) My review of Happy for Areo: https://areomagazine.com/2019/01/21/in-praise-of-stoicism-derren-browns-happy-book-review Letter Find out more about our new partners, Letter: https://letter.wiki I’ve written about it here: https://areomagazine.com/2019/07/12/lets-change-the-nature-of-public-debate-an-introduction-to-letter/ And I’ve written about one of our letter exchanges here: https://areomagazine.com/2019/07/10/human-cultural-evolution-a-letter-exchange/

Steven Pinker in conversation with Amol Rajan on Enlightenment Now. Steven Pinker is an experimental psychologist who conducts research in visual cognition, psycholinguistics, and social relations. He grew up in Montreal and earned his BA from McGill and his PhD from Harvard. Currently Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard, he has also taught at Stanford and MIT. He has won numerous prizes for his research, his teaching, and his nine books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Better Angels of Our Nature, and The Sense of Style. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, a Humanist of the Year, a recipient of nine honorary doctorates, and one of Foreign Policy’s “World’s Top 100 Public Intellectuals” and Time’s “100 Most Influential People in the World Today.” He is Chair of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary, and writes frequently for The New York Times, The Guardian, and other publications. His tenth book, is called Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. Amol Rajan is the BBC Media editor and former Editor of the Independent. 5x15 brings together outstanding individuals to tell of their lives, passions and inspirations. Learn more about 5x15 events: www.5x15stories.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/5x15stories Facebook: www.facebook.com/5x15stories Instagram: www.instagram.com/5x15stories

Several recent bestselling books have focused on the Enlightenment, including Stephen Pinker’s Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. But what was the Enlightenment, and how should we view its effects? Bishop Barron offers his take today. A listener asks how Christians determine which parts of the Mosaic law in the Old Testament are still in effect today.

Several recent bestselling books have focused on the Enlightenment, including Stephen Pinker’s Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. But what was the Enlightenment, and how should we view its effects? Bishop Barron offers his take today. A listener asks how Christians determine which parts of the Mosaic law in the Old Testament are still in effect today.

Rob Tracinski talks with Steven Pinker, author of Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, about the legacy of the Enlightenment. The conversation includes: exactly how good the state of the world is, "thick" versus "thin" philosophy, the Counter-Enlightenment backlash, Ayn Rand, the welfare state, and why it's ironic that everyone is so eager to watch "Game of Thrones." For more commentary and analysis, visit The Tracinski Letter at www.TracinskiLetter.com. Support us at patreon.com/SalonoftheRefused.  

Arun Giridhar is not your typical startup entrepreneur. One of the latest success stories coming out of Purdue Foundry, Arun earned a PhD in Chemical Engineering in the mid-2000s and saw an opportunity to optimize how pharmaceuticals are made. Arun has over ten years' experience in pharmaceutical production. In his professional life, he applies his chemical engineering background towards improving health care. At other times, he can be found at his Toastmasters club, or catching up with feline and canine friends. Resources mentioned in this episode: Starting March 4: www.petsgetit.com Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker

A year ago, Dr. Steven Pinker's book Enlightenment Now made headlines for giving hard data that proved that the world is safer, happier, and freer than ever, but he was surprised by how many people just don't want to believe good news!  Today Dr. Pinker returns to the podcast to review the metrics of societal progress that continue to show that the world just keeps getting better, but he also discusses two areas that give him cause for concern.  Steven Pinker ponders whether the immigration debate might actually be a positive turning point as polls show that Americans are rejecting alternative facts and alarmism.  He reveals how genetics may play a part in our political preferences and explores how linguistics can make for more productive political discussions.  Dr. Pinker recalls growing up during the turbulent 60’s in Montreal and how he went from a teenage anarchist to a leading proponent of science, reason, humanism, and progress.  Plus we discuss his ongoing fight against political correctness, why we need to stop giving words too much power, and why he says those baby boomers who say millenials are a generation of snowflakes have no one but themselves. Order his latest book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress on Amazon, Audible, or wherever books are sold.  Keep up with him on Twitter at @sapinker or at www.stevenpinker.com.  Today's podcast was sponsored by Blinkist.  Subscribe to Kickass News on Apple Podcasts, visit our website at www.kickassnews.com, and follow us on twitter at @KickassNewsPod.

1:52 Why Thomas doesn’t use the term mixed race 10:21 Perception that being brown/black is synonymous with oppression 15:08 Whiteness 16:12 Skin colour inheritance 20:35 The importance of representation; links between race and class 27:44 Hip hop as performative blackness 33:40 “Acting white” 34:48 Mixed race identity as an opportunity 37:15 The yearning for belonging 40:05 Adrian Piper 42:15 Ancestral guilt and ‘worshipping the wound’ 50:47 The rejection of optimism 53:07 What prompted Thomas to write Self-Portrait in Black and White 56:18 Thomas reads an extract from the book 1:03:57 Richard Spencer, the European far right, & the identity politics arms race 1:09:44 Culture & multiculturalism 1:11:55 White guilt 1:15:21 Transcending the mental habits of race Thomas Chatterton Williams' memoir "Losing My Cool" is available here: https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Chatterton-Williams/e/B0035FEJHC%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share Thomas Chatterton Williams, Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race (2019): https://www.amazon.com/Self-Portrait-Black-White-Unlearning-Race/dp/0393608867 You can read an extract from his upcoming book, "Self Portrait in Black and White" here: https://www.vqronline.org/essays-articles/2015/01/black-and-blue-and-blond For more of Thomas's writings, see: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/magazine/adrian-pipers-self-imposed-exile-from-america-and-from-race-itself.html https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/04/the-french-origins-of-you-will-not-replace-us and https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/opinion/ta-nehisi-coates-whiteness-power.html?_r=0 …. Follow Thomas on Twitter at @thomaschattwill. Additional References For more on Adrian Piper: http://www.adrianpiper.com/ Steven Pinker, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress (2018) John H. McWhorter, “Antiracism: Our Flawed New Religion” (2015) https://www.thedailybeast.com/antiracism-our-flawed-new-religion The preface to Iona’s piece on mixed race themes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdUunlGWqrw&t=17s

On this week’s Tech Nation, Harvard professor Steven Pinker makes the case that we’re better off today than ever before. His book is “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.” Then on Tech Nation Health, Chief Correspondent Dr. Daniel Kraft takes us beyond the hype on “artificial intelligence” in healthcare.

On this week’s Tech Nation, Harvard professor Steven Pinker makes the case that we’re better off today than ever before. His book is “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.” Then on Tech Nation Health, Chief Correspondent Dr. Daniel Kraft takes us beyond the hype on “artificial intelligence” in healthcare.

Happy new year, you voles, you vulgar abbey mice. The clock might just be striking midnight, but that’s no excuse for you to not ditch your family and the people who love you in order to listen to this week’s Trashfuture. In this episode, Riley (@raaleh), Milo (@Milo_Edwards), Alice Caldwell-Kelly (@AliceAvizandum) join special guest Felix Biederman (@ByYourLogic) of Chapo Trap House to discuss Steven Pinker’s exceptional work of analysis, “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.” Okay, breaking kayfabe here -- this is the dumbest book on the planet. The idea that this even got published is proof of the sheer brain death involved among Harvard thought leaders. You will enjoy the takes, but you have to go into it with the following fact in hand: we didn’t make any of this up. These are real quotes. Please bear in mind that your favourite moron lads have a Patreon now. You too can support us here: https://www.patreon.com/trashfuture/overview *COMEDY KLAXON* Milo will host Smoke Comedy at the Sekforde (34 Sekforde Street London EC1R 0HA) on January 16 at 8 pm. Come see Ahir Shah and a list of a number of great comedians. Get a ticket for free by signing up here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/smoke-comedy-featuring-ahir-shah-tickets-53346459697 Also: you can commodify your dissent with a t-shirt from http://www.lilcomrade.com/, and what’s more, it’s mandatory if you want to be taken seriously. Do you want a mug to hold your soup? Perhaps you want one with the Trashfuture logo, which is available here: https://teespring.com/what-if-phone-cops#pid=659&cid=102968&sid=front

In their 1968 book The Population Bomb, Paul and Anne Ehrlich warned of the dangers of overpopulation. These included mass starvation, societal upheaval and environmental ruin. This and other dire predictions about humankind earned Ehrlich a reputation as a prophet of doom, and fifty years later he doesn’t see much in the way of improvement. Harvard cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker, on the other hand, prefers to look on the bright side: people are living longer, extreme poverty has been decreasing globally, worldwide literacy is on the rise. Is the glass half empty, or half full? Guests: Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University; author, “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress” (Penguin, 2018) Paul R. Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies, Stanford University; co-author, “The Population Bomb” (Ballantine, 1968)

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/can-reason-save-us. To an optimist, things are constantly getting better: disease and extreme poverty are down; life expectancy, literacy, and equality are up; and it’s all thanks to the glory of human reason. But a pessimist would point to the continuing presence of injustice, oppression, and war, and the dangers of global warming and nuclear annihilation. So who's right? Are we really living in an age of progress? And can reason really save us? Josh and Ken try to reason with renowned cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, author of "Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress."

Host Aroop Mukharji interviews Dr. Steven Pinker, Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, about his new book, "Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress" (Viking 2018) and beer and mixed nuts.

We talk with cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker about his recent book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.

In this episode, I speak with Jeremy Lent — integrator and author of ‘The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning,’ and the founder of the nonprofit Liology Institute, an organization “dedicated to fostering an integrated worldview, both scientifically rigorous and intrinsically meaningful, that could enable humanity to thrive sustainably on the earth.”♢ In this conversation with Jeremy, we start off discussing Jeremy’s excellent critique of cognitive psychologist, linguist, and popular science author Steven Pinker’s recent book ‘Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.’ Jeremy initially presented his brilliant critique in his widely-shared article ‘Steven Pinker’s Ideas About Progress Are Fatally Flawed. These Eight Graphs Show Why,’ which we delve into in this episode. Jeremy unpacks the underlying assumptions implicit in Pinker’s ideas presented in his work, in particular regarding Pinker’s defense (through cherry-picking of data) of the capitalist neoliberal economic order, and more broadly of the “progress narrative” that justifies (or outright ignores) the widespread ecological devastation implicit in the expansion and maintenance of industrial civilization and the institutions that uphold it. In the later part of this discussion, we discuss the balance of participating in electoral politics while simultaneously recognizing its deep systemic flaws, and the importance of generating viable alternatives that exist outside of the logic and operations of dominant political and economic institutions of our time. Jeremy Lent is an author and founder of the nonprofit Liology Institute, dedicated to fostering a worldview that could enable humanity to thrive sustainably on the earth. The Liology Institute, which integrates systems science with ancient wisdom traditions, holds regular workshops and other events in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to ‘The Patterning Instinct,’ Jeremy is author of the novel ‘Requiem of the Human Soul.’ Jeremy holds a BA in English Literature from Cambridge University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Jeremy is currently working on his next book provisionally entitled The Web of Meaning: An Integration of Modern Science with Traditional Wisdom, which combines findings in cognitive science, systems theory, and traditional Chinese and Buddhist thought, offering a framework that integrates both science and meaning in a coherent whole.☀︎ ♢Source: http://bit.ly/LentAbout ☀︎Source: http://bit.ly/JeremyLent Episode Notes: - Learn more about Jeremy and his work at his website: https://www.jeremylent.com - Read Jeremy’s article ‘Steven Pinker’s Ideas About Progress Are Fatally Flawed. These Eight Graphs Show Why.’ here: http://bit.ly/2MWuTmn - Keep up with Jeremy’s writings on his blog: https://patternsofmeaning.com - Learn more about Jeremy’s book ‘The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning’ here: http://bit.ly/PatterningInstinct - Learn more about the Liology Institute here: http://www.liology.org - Follow Jeremy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeremyRLent - Follow Jeremy of Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JeremyRLent - The songs featured in this episode are “Frmnowhere,” “bodies[TOTW],” and “Noflowrs[Instrw]” by Knxwledge from the album Hud Dreems. - WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com - PATREON: http://bit.ly/LBWPATREON - DONATE: Paypal: http://bit.ly/LBWPAYPAL Ko-Fi: http://bit.ly/LBWKOFI - FOLLOW & LISTEN: SoundCloud: http://bit.ly/LBWSOUNDCLOUD iTunes: http://bit.ly/LBWITUNES Google Play: http://bit.ly/LBWGOOGLE Stitcher: http://bit.ly/LBWSTITCHER RadioPublic: http://bit.ly/LBWRADIOPUB YouTube: http://bit.ly/LBWYOUTUBE - SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook: http://bit.ly/LBWFACEBOOK Twitter: http://bit.ly/LBWTWITTER Instagram: http://bit.ly/LBWINSTA

AJ Jacobs is entertaining. I think that’s the first thing I should say before I also say that he’s a six-time New York Times bestselling author. All his books are funny. And they’re extreme. I’ll explain. AJ comes up with crazy ideas and then gives us his “normal” way of life to fully immerse himself in a new (but temporary) way of life. This time he’s traveling the world to thank a thousand people who all had a hand in making his daily cup of coffee. Links and Resources "Thanks A Thousand: A Gratitude Journey" by AJ Jacobs (you can pre-order it now)   “Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection”  by AJ Jacobs “The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible“ by AJ Jacobs “The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World“  by AJ Jacobs  “My Life as an Experiment: One Man’s Humble Quest to Improve Himself by Living as a Woman, Becoming George Washington, Telling No Lies, and Other Radical Tests“  by AJ Jacobs  "It's All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World's Family Tree" by AJ Jacobs Visit his website ajjacobs.com Follow AJ on Facebook + Twitter Also Mentioned My interview with Dr. OZ 23 & Me Ancestry.com "Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress" by Steven Pinker Elisha Gray, he filed the patent for the telephone about 4 hours after Alexander Graham Bell My interview with Tom Papa Bill Gates Ted Kaczynski Jay R. Ferguson who plays AJ in “Living Biblically” Seinfeld Larry David Jerry Seinfeld Marlon Wayans who almost played AJ  John Galecki The Big Bang Modern Family Louie (Louis CK’s show) CSI American Idol Tim Ferriss Gangum Style My YouTube channel Good Fellas Tom Hanks Karma Sutra (book) I, Pencil by Leonard E. Read I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast. Thanks so much for listening! If you like this episode, please subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts Stitcher iHeart Radio Spotify Follow me on Social Media: Twitter Facebook Linkedin Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AJ Jacobs is entertaining. I think that's the first thing I should say before I also say that he's a six-time New York Times bestselling author. All his books are funny. And they're extreme. I'll explain. AJ comes up with crazy ideas and then gives us his "normal" way of life to fully immerse himself in a new (but temporary) way of life. This time he's traveling the world to thank a thousand people who all had a hand in making his daily cup of coffee.   Links and Resources "Thanks A Thousand: A Gratitude Journey" by AJ Jacobs (you can pre-order it now)   "Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection"  by AJ Jacobs "The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible" by AJ Jacobs "The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World"  by AJ Jacobs  "My Life as an Experiment: One Man's Humble Quest to Improve Himself by Living as a Woman, Becoming George Washington, Telling No Lies, and Other Radical Tests"  by AJ Jacobs  "It's All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World's Family Tree" by AJ Jacobs Visit his website ajjacobs.com Follow AJ on Facebook + Twitter Also Mentioned My interview with Dr. OZ 23 & Me Ancestry.com "Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress" by Steven Pinker Elisha Gray, he filed the patent for the telephone about 4 hours after Alexander Graham Bell My interview with Tom Papa Bill Gates Ted Kaczynski Jay R. Ferguson who plays AJ in "Living Biblically" Seinfeld Larry David Jerry Seinfeld Marlon Wayans who almost played AJ  John Galecki The Big Bang Modern Family Louie (Louis CK's show) CSI American Idol Tim Ferriss Gangum Style   My YouTube channel Good Fellas Tom Hanks Karma Sutra (book) I, Pencil by Leonard E. Read   I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.   Thanks so much for listening! If you like this episode, please subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts Stitcher iHeart Radio Spotify   Follow me on Social Media: Twitter Facebook Linkedin Instagram ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltuchershow.com------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsiHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on social media:YouTubeTwitterFacebookLinkedIn

On today's 'Global Exchange' Podcast, we continue our series on positioning Canada in a shifting international order. Today's episode, recorded during our May 8th foreign policy conference in Ottawa, features Janice MacKinnon, Thomas d'Aquino, Dany Hays, and Chris Waddell talking about what Canada wants out of this year's G7 Summit in Charlevoix. Bios: Colin Robertson (host) - A former Canadian diplomat, Colin Robertson is Vice President of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. Chris Waddell (moderator) - CGAI Advisory Council member and a Professor at Carleton University. Janice MacKinnon - CGAI Advisory Council member & a Fellow at the Royal Society of Canada. Thomas d'Aquino - Canada Chair at the North American Forum. Dan Hays - CGAI Advisory Council member, senior partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada and former Speaker of the Senate. Book Recommendations: Chris Waddell (moderator) - "Original Highways: Travelling the Great Rivers of Canada" by Roy MacGregor (https://www.amazon.ca/Original-Highways-Travelling-Rivers-Canada/dp/0307361381/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528481297&sr=8-1&keywords=Original+Highways) Janice MacKinnon - "University Commons Divided: Exploring Debate & Dissent on Campus" by Peter MacKinnon (https://www.amazon.ca/University-Commons-Divided-Exploring-Dissent/dp/1487522827/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528481282&sr=8-1&keywords=Divided+Commons) Thomas d'Aquino - "Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress" by Steven Pinker (https://www.amazon.ca/Enlightenment-Now-Science-Humanism-Progress/dp/0525427570/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1528481243&sr=1-1&keywords=enlightenment+now) | "Back to Beer... and Hockey: The Story of Eric Molson" by Helen Antoniou (https://www.amazon.ca/Back-Beer-Hockey-Story-Molson/dp/0773552871/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1528481266&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=From+Beer+Back+To+Beer+and+Hockey) Dan Hays - "How Canadians Communicate IV: Media and Politics" by David Taras & Christopher Waddell (https://www.amazon.ca/How-Canadians-Communicate-IV-Politics/dp/1926836812/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528481256&sr=8-1&keywords=Christopher+Waddell) Related Links: - "Positioning Canada in the Shifting International Order" [CGAI Conference Information] (https://www.cgai.ca/positioning_canada_in_the_shifting_international_order) - "2018 G7 Summit – Canada 2018 G7 Presidency – Charlevoix, Quebec" [Government of Canada] (g7.gc.ca/en/) Recording Date: May 8th, 2018 Follow the Canadian Global Affairs Institute on Facebook, Twitter (@CAGlobalAffairs), or on Linkedin. Head over to our website at cgai.ca for more commentary. Produced by Jared Maltais. Music credits to Drew Phillips.

Things are getting better, and The Enlightenment deserves a large amount of the credit. Steven Pinker's new book is Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

L.A. Dixon, a writer, academic and high school history and science teacher specializing in critical thinking, discusses whether Steven Pinker's new book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress, contributes to or detracts from the Secular Humanist cause. Learn more about the BC Humanist Association at www.bchumanist.ca

Steven Pinker is the Harvard College Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. A two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and the winner of many awards for his research, teaching, and books, he has been named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People and one of Foreign Policy's 100 Leading Global Thinkers. His books include The Stuff of Thought, The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Blank Slate, and The Sense of Style. Professor Pinker's new book is Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. He was in the Northwest to speak at University Temple United Methodist Church in Seattle, presented by University Book Store. Follow him on Twitter @sapinker

Professor Steven Pinker (Bill Gates' favorite author) discusses the irony that the news media has become measurably more negative at same time as our quality life has dramatically improved.  He outlines how the top 15 objective metrics of human progress indicate that life is getting better not worse, and he says fear of things like globalism and income inequality is greatly exaggerated and largely unfounded.  He calls for the left and the right to stop politicizing science, the embrace of humanism over tribalism, and more critical thinking and less political correctness in our universities. Order Steven Pinker's book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress on Amazon or Audible. Keep up with Steven Pinker at www.stevenpinker.com or on twitter at @sapinker.  Today's episode was sponsored by Grasshopper, Untuckit, and Adiamor Jewelry.

On this week's Tech Nation, Harvard professor Steven Pinker makes the case that we're better off today than ever before. His book is “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.” Then on Tech Nation Health, Chief Correspondent Dr. Daniel Kraft takes us beyond the hype on “artificial intelligence” in healthcare.

On this week’s Tech Nation, Harvard professor Steven Pinker makes the case that we’re better off today than ever before. His book is “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.” Then on Tech Nation Health, Chief Correspondent Dr. Daniel Kraft takes us beyond the hype on “artificial intelligence” in healthcare.

You may be among many who wistfully harken back to the “golden days” of the past. For some people the past does look rosier, or perhaps the present looks grim, but, according to Steven Pinker, a Harvard University cognitive psychologist, that “golden age” of the past is a reflection of faulty memory. We — most people in the world, anyway — are actually far better off than we were decades and surely centuries ago. That’s based on many metrics of progress, including literacy, safety, gender equality, lower poverty, and many more. Pinker presents in his new book an abundance of data as evidence of such progress. This progress, he argues, is rooted in the ideals of the Enlightenment some 250 years ago. Pinker’s book is called “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.” Last week we played a couple of segments of an interview that How On Earth host Susan Moran and KGNU journalist Joel Edelstein conducted with Dr. Pinker. In today's feature, we play that interview in full. Hosts: Joel Parker Producer: Shelley Schlender Engineer: Joel Parker Contributors: Tom Yulsman, Shelley Schlender Executive Producer: Susan Moran Listen to the show here:

A review of Enlightenment Now, by Steven Pinker. Viking (February 2018) 576 pages.  Every so often, something will unite individuals in outrage who disagree furiously about virtually everything else. For the moment, that something is Canadian psychologist Steven Pinker’s latest book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. At the New York Times, conservative columnist Ross Douthat decried what he called Pinker’s “smug secular certainties,” and in the London Evening Standard, Melanie McDonagh declared that his “Whiggish case” ignored the “fruits of belief in [God]” and the “old problem of existential angst.” Meanwhile, in the left-leaning New Statesman, surly pessimist John Gray showered extravagant contempt over Pinker’s “evangelism of science” and “ideology of scientism,” and at ABC, Peter Harrison took exception to his “teleological view of history” and “misplaced faith in data, metrics and statistical analysis.” It is worth noticing that Pinker’s most trenchant critics are eager to flaunt their aversion to the very values Pinker sets out to defend – reason, science, humanism, and progress – and that their critiques display the traits and tics of exactly the kind of … The post Steven Pinker’s Counter-Counter-Enlightenment appeared first on Quillette.

Poverty, disease, violent crime, famine... nearly every measure of human suffering is going steadily down, as surely as overall prosperity is going up. That's not just optimism, that's what the data show. Today we're delighted to present our guest Steven Pinker, author of several books including his latest, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, which highlights an optimistic, if counterintuitive, look at the future.

Steven Pinker, Harvard psychologist and professor, discusses his new book, "Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress."Paresh Upadhaya, Director of Currency Strategy at Amundi Pioneer, on how the dollar will perform going forward under a protectionist agenda, and his favorite FX trade for 2018.Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), discusses a report that reveals what companies benefit from a new arms race.Vincent Piazza, Senior Equity Energy Analyst and Global Sector Leader for Bloomberg Intelligence, on oil, US shale overtaking OPEC, and what E&P companies will do with their excess cash.

Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases. Instead, follow the data: In seventy-five jaw-dropping graphs, Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West, but worldwide. This progress is not the result of some cosmic force. It is a gift of the Enlightenment: the conviction that reason and science can enhance human flourishing.Far from being a naïve hope, the Enlightenment, we now know, has worked. But more than ever, it needs a vigorous defense. The Enlightenment project swims against currents of human nature — tribalism, authoritarianism, demonization, magical thinking — which demagogues are all too willing to exploit. Many commentators, committed to political, religious, or romantic ideologies, fight a rearguard action against it. The result is a corrosive fatalism and a willingness to wreck the precious institutions of liberal democracy and global cooperation.With intellectual depth and literary flair, Enlightenment Now makes the case for reason, science, and humanism: the ideals we need to confront our problems and continue our progress. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Harvard psychology professor and award-winning author Steven Pinker has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine, and his specialty is books that challenge our preconceptions about human nature and human history.  On this episode, the author of The Language Instinct and The Blank Slate joins Jim Mustich to talk about his new book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, and how the advances of the 18th century are still powerfully at work in the 21st.

On The Gist, President Trump’s latest poetry reading. Last week on the show, we talked about the manifold reasons for optimism in the world. This week, Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker builds on that argument, adding that we’ve had a roughly 300-year run of steady improvements in technology, health, and civility. It just so happens that the only thing as constant as human progress is our tendency to focus on human shortcomings. Pinker’s latest book is Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. In the Spiel, why it should be worrying that the California Democratic Party snubbed Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On The Gist, President Trump’s latest poetry reading. Last week on the show, we talked about the manifold reasons for optimism in the world. This week, Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker builds on that argument, adding that we’ve had a roughly 300-year run of steady improvements in technology, health, and civility. It just so happens that the only thing as constant as human progress is our tendency to focus on human shortcomings. Pinker’s latest book is Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. In the Spiel, why it should be worrying that the California Democratic Party snubbed Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We should ignore newspaper headlines, believe that things are getting better and defend Enlightenment values. That's the message from Steven Pinker, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He debates his defence of progress and his optimistic outlook with Philip Dodd. Plus culture wars in Britain. Are the divisions we are seeing today different to previous culture wars? Eliza Filby, Alex Massie & Tarjinder Gill debate. Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker is out now. Eliza Filby is the author of God and Mrs Thatcher and a Visiting Lecturer at Kings College, London. Alex Massie is Scotland Editor of The Spectator and a columnist for The Times and The Sunday Times Tarjinder Gill is a writer and teacher who blogs on race and identity issues at AllinBritain. Producer: Robyn Read

Steven Pinker is the author of the new book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss why he thinks life is improving despite the worldwide rise of demagogues, what Trump tells us about America’s relationship to Enlightenment ideals, and whether global warming and nuclear weapons should call into question our notion of progress. Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod  Podcast production by Max Jacobs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steven Pinker is the author of the new book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss why he thinks life is improving despite the worldwide rise of demagogues, what Trump tells us about America’s relationship to Enlightenment ideals, and whether global warming and nuclear weapons should call into question our notion of progress. Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod  Podcast production by Max Jacobs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steven Pinker is a cognitive psychologist, linguist, and popular science author. He is Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, and is known for his advocacy of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. His new book "Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress" will be released in February 2018.

Steven Pinker is a cognitive psychologist, linguist, and popular science author. He is Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, and is known for his advocacy of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. His new book "Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress" will be released in February 2018.

FFRF’s 40th annual convention was a great success! Nonbelief Relief announces $100,000+ in charity to victims of hurricanes Harvey and Irma. We discuss FFRF’s amended complaint in our lawsuit challenging President Trump’s unconstitutional Executive Order that he claims now allows churches to engage in political activity. Then we hear from FFRF’s Honorary President Steven Pinker, the Harvard professor of psychology and prolific author, who gave FFRF his first speech and interview about his new book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress.