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

research as harmed by, 373, 387–8

scientists and, 138, 356–8, 372

as secular religions, 32

Social Darwinism and, 399, 486n36

social segregation according to, 371

as sports fandom, 359, 360, 366, 381, 383

Trump’s election and, 343

See also academia

political science, 407

PolitiFact, 336, 375–6

Polity Project, 202, 203

Polk, James, 63

pollution. See environmental protection: pollution

Pol Pot, 78, 161, 447

poor countries. See developing countries/world

Popper, Karl, 205, 393, 486n21

population

control measures, 74

demographic transition, 125, 135–6, 436

education and decline of, 238

explosion of, 56, 73–4, 125–6, 125

fertility of religious believers, 436, 489n70

fertility rates as decreasing, 125–6

growth of, 125

Muslim, 126, 326

and Peak Stuff, 135–6

populism, 29, 333–4

age rolloff in support for, 341–2, 342

backlash against equal rights, 219, 221, 225

cultural backlash as primary issue in, 340, 342

dystopian rhetoric and, 343–4

economics and, 339, 340, 342

education and, 339, 340

and electoral irregularities, repair of, 342–3

in Europe, 334, 338–9, 341–2, 342, 438, 451

fascism and, 448, 491n118

institutional limits on power of, 337–8

intellectuals and, 343–4

vs. international community, 163, 337–8

left- and right-wing varieties, 334

media and, 343–4

minority rights, disrespect for, 333, 340

Peak Populism, 451

and “political correctness,” 219

progress as rejected by, 334, 363–4

racism and, 339–40

repudiation of, 338–9

strongman emergence as factor in, 340–41, 343

and terrorism, fear of, 338, 339

theoconservatism and, 448–9

voter characteristics and, 339–40

voter turnout and, 343, 438

See also Trump, Donald

Porter, Roy, 84

Portugal, 200, 341, 481n32

positivism, 388. See also reductionism; scientism

postcolonial governments

civil war and intercommunal violence of, 164

and democracies, rise of, 200, 201

famine exacerbated by policies of, 78

postmodernism, 351

hatred of science, 397

and malaise of the humanities, 406

Nietzsche as influence on, 446

relativism, 406

Poststructuralism, 446

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), 281, 282

“post-truth era,” 375

Potomac River, 130

Pound, Ezra, 447

poverty, 79–96

clothing and, 80, 117, 118

conditions of, 79–80, 92–4

and consumption, 116–18, 116

as default state of humankind, 25, 79

definition of, 79

and disposable income, 115–16, 116

economic inequality confused with, 98–9

energy requirements to escape, 141

escape from, 24, 54, 85, 364, 459–60nn16,18,20

escape from, factors contributing to, 90–96, 234

homelessness, 116

pollution and, 130–31, 463n28

retirement and alleviation of, 250–51, 250

social spending to alleviate, 107–110, 115–16

workhouses, 79, 250–51

See also developing countries/world; economic inequality; wealth

—EXTREME POVERTY, 87

number of people living in, 88–9, 88

per capita income distribution and, 86–7, 86

percentage of world living in, 87–8, 87

United Nations’ goal for reducing, 89, 460n28

power-law distribution, 46, 162, 290, 292–3

Prados de la Escosura, Leandro, 110, 245, 473n45

prediction, 46, 366–71

Availability heuristic and, 370

Bayesian reasoning and, 369–70

common-sense awareness of, 366

ideology driven as least successful, 368, 371

media and intellectuals unaccountable for, 366–7

prophecy distinguished from, 46

superforecasters, 368–71, 380, 393, 404

wisdom of crowds and, 370

President’s Council on Bioethics, 60

Preston Curve, 95

probabilities

of imaginable events, inaccurate estimates, 292

of nuclear war, 312–13

of rare events, 46, 162, 290, 292–3

See also Availability heuristic; prediction

productivity, 328

delay in effects of technological change, 330

factors affecting slowdown of, 329

technological sophistication and, 328

progress

as apparent historical force, 109, 177–8, 190, 211–13, 215, 220–21

vs. Authoritarian High Modernism, 11–12

as cumulative, 326–7

definition of, 11, 51–2, 55, 410

vs. dialectics and other mystical forces, arcs, and struggles, 11, 109, 326, 395, 400

general factor (quantitative), 245–6, 246, 473n45, 483n42

global shaming campaigns and, 222, 443

Human Development Index, 245–6, 246, 473n45, 483n42

institutions as hope for, 12

“price of,” 11–12, 185–6

Romantic vs. Enlightenment versions, 11, 109, 326, 395, 400

summary of, 322–6

threats to, 328–41. See also economic stagnation; populism

unbundling negative features from, 94

United Nations Millennium Development Goals for, 52, 89, 239–40, 457n31, 459–60n18

Protestant countries, emancipative values in, 227

Protestant ethic, 85

psychology

clinical. See anxiety; depression; mental health and illness; psychotherapy; suicide

cognitive, 351, 353, 378, 407

Enlightenment precursors, 8–9, 10, 353, 392

evolutionary, 17, 25–8, 353–5, 415, 426, 448, 450

social, 100, 373, 407

See also cognitive biases

psychotherapy

cognitive behavior therapy, 282

Feedback-Informed Treatment, 380

and media focus on negative news, 286–7

public goods game. See Tragedy of the Commons

public health

bioterror and international networks, 301

Ebola control, 307

Nazi Holocaust invoking, 399

revolution of, 64, 83

See also vaccines