and wars within Muslim-majority countries, 439
See also ISIS; terrorism and terrorists
Islamophobia, 219, 440, 441–2
anti-Islamic hate crimes, 219–20, 220
Ismail, Gululai, 443
Israel
agriculture of, 129
cyber-sabotage and, 304
happiness ranking of, 475n30
nuclear weapons and, 317, 318
and war, 313
Italy
child labor force in, 231–2, 231
emancipative values in, 225–7, 226, 227
Fascism of, 445, 446
homicide rates in, 169, 170
literacy in, 236
poverty and, 79
social spending in, 108
Jacobs, Alan, 283
Jainism, 23
Jamaica, homicide rates in, 172
Jamison, Dean, 67
Japan
education in, 237, 237, 238
emancipative values in, 225–7, 226, 227
fertility rates falling in, 125
nuclear power and, 146, 147
secularization and, 436, 489n68
social spending in, 108
and World War II, 158, 161, 196, 305, 314
Jaspers, Karl, 23
Jefferson, Thomas, 27, 95, 412, 417
Jencks, Christopher, 116
Jenner, Edward, 63, 65
Jensen, Robert, 95
Jervis, Robert, 197, 311–12
Jetsons, The, 330
Jindal, Bobby, 387
Johnson, Samuel, 162
jokes, bigoted, 217–19, 218, 471n13
Jonassohn, Kurt, 160–61
Juárez, Mexico, homicide rate in, 172
Judaism
and Axial Age, 23
humanistic branches, 412
religiosity and, 440
Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur, 167–8
and schools, development of formal, 233
Talmudic debate, 379
See also anti-Semitism
Jussim, Lee, 373
Kahan, Dan, 154, 357–8, 360–61, 366, 381, 382–3
Kahneman, Daniel, 41, 353, 383, 404
Kahn, Herman, 309
Kaku, Michio, 308
Kalahari “Bushmen” (San people), 249, 353–4
Kant, Immanuel
and arguments for the existence of God, 421
categorical imperative of, 412
as cognitive psychologist, 392
and deontology, 416
on enlightenment, 7
and human nature, 10
and irrationality of humans, 8–9, 353, 482n6
on peace, 13–14, 162, 163
on progress, 11
Kass, Leon, 60, 389
Kazakhstan, nuclear weapons relinquished by, 313
Keith, David, 153–4
Kelley, Jonathan, 101
Kellogg-Briand (Paris Peace) pact (1928), 163–4
Kellogg, Frank, 164
Kelly, Kevin, 254, 301–2, 304, 344–5, 477n20
Kelsey, Elin, 292
Kendall, Henry, 308
Kendrick, Pearl, 64
Kennedy, John F., 31, 312, 336
Kenny, Charles, 65, 95
Kenya, 54–5, 71, 71, 436
Kepler, Johannes, 424
Keynes, John Maynard, 347, 400
Khomeini, Ayatollah, 447
Khrushchev, Nikita, 312
Kim Il-sung, 447
Kim Jong-il, 78
Kim Jong-un, 313
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 223, 405
Kingston, Maxine Hong, 284
Kinzer, Stephen, 420
Kissinger, Henry, 316
Klein, Daniel, 362–3
Klein, Naomi, 138–9
knowledge, 21, 233–46
computation and, 21
populism and disdain for, 333
Trump’s disdain for, 336
unity of, as consilience of humanities and science, 390, 406–9, 486n13
See also education; literacy; reason
Knowlton, Nancy, 122
Koch, Charles and David, 139
Korean War, 49, 157, 158, 160
Kosovo, 203
Kotler, Steven, 330
Kozol, Jonathan, 456n1
Krasnow, Max, 140
Krauss, Lawrence, 308
Kristof, Nicholas, 373
Kuhn, Thomas, 395, 486n21
Kunstler, James, 465n76
Kuwait, 171
conquest by Iraq (1990–91), 163
Kuznets curve
carbon emissions, 143, 143
economic inequality, 103–6, 110, 111
environmental, 124, 463n9, 463n35
Kuznets, Simon, 103, 104
Kyrgyzstan, 203
labor movement, paid vacation and, 251
Lacan, Jacques, 406
Lahiri, Jhumpa, 284
Lamarckian process, 399
Landsteiner, Karl, 64
language
communication of ideas using, 27
development of, 23
Indo-European, 398
writing, 27
Lanier, Jaron, 477n20
Lankford, Adam, 196, 198
Laplace, Pierre-Simon, 24, 298
Lasch, Christopher, 456n1
Laski, Harold, 400, 418
Latin America. See South and Central America
Latinos, 239, 336
law enforcement. See police; rule of law
Lawrence, D. H., 446
Lears, Jackson, 388
Leavis, F. R., 34, 92–3, 446
Lebanon, 490n96
Leetaru, Kalev, 50
Lehrer, Tom, 48, 126
Lenin, Vladimir, 447
Lennon, John, 166
Lepper, Mark, 359–60
Lesotho, 172
Lessing, Doris, 261
Levi, Michael, 313
Levitsky, Steven, 206
Lewis, Sinclair, 284
Lewis, Wyndham, 446, 447
Lewontin, Richard, 114
LGBT rights. See homosexuality and homophobia
Liar’s Paradox, 352
liberal values. See emancipative values
Libya, 193, 313
Liebenberg, Louis, 353–4
life and living things as anti-entropic, 18–19, 20
life expectancy, 53–61, 54, 58
child mortality, 55–7, 56
developed vs. developing countries, 54–5, 95–6
fallacious pessimism about, 53
immortality, 60–61
and quantifiable index of global well-being, 245–6, 246, 473n45
light, artificial, 253–4, 253–4
lightning strike deaths, 189, 189
Lilla, Mark, 447, 449
Lincoln, Abraham, 45–6
linguistics, 407
Linker, Damon, 390, 448
Lister, Joseph, 63
literacy, 235–6, 236
African Americans and, 219
of females, 239–40, 239, 473n27
literature
and human knowledge, 433
scholarship in, as discipline, 407–8
See also arts and culture; humanities
Lithuania, 278
living standards
of the 1950s, 113–14
intellectual scorn for, 34, 446
Optimism Gap and, 115
sympathy and, 34
Locke, John, 230, 412
London, England, 63, 130, 135
London, Jack, 446
Long Peace, 43, 157–8, 451
and civil wars, 158–60, 466n11
and democracies, rise of, 162–3, 200
Kellogg-Briand pact and, 163–4
realpolitik and, 163
trade and commerce and, 162
See also international community
Lord, Charles, 359–60
lottery, winning, 270
Louis C.K., 262–3, 264
Lovelock, James, 465n76
Loving, Richard and Mildred, 376
Lucas, Robert, 89
Lutheranism, 412
Macaulay, Thomas, 327–8
McCloskey, Deirdre, 84
McGinn, Colin, 427–8
McKibben, Bill, 465n76
McNally, Richard, 281
McNamara, Robert, 74, 319
Macron, Emmanuel, 339
Madfis, Erik, 198
Madison, James, 13, 407
Maduro, Nicolás, 91, 171
magical thinking, 5, 249
Mahbubani, K., 459n16
Maher, Bill, 374
Maher, Shiraz, 5, 443
Mahmood, Omar, 443
Mailer, Norman, 447, 456n1
Malamud, Bernard, 284
malaria, 66, 66
Malaysia, 57, 200, 203, 442, 457n8
Malthusian Era, 54
Malthus, Thomas, 73–4
Mandela, Nelson, 91
Mann, Thomas, 446
Mao Zedong
death of, 90, 208
as leader, 78, 91, 143
and nuclear weapons, 313
repression under, 203, 208
Western intellectuals as admirers of, 447
Marcotte, Amanda, 358–9
Marcuse, Herbert, 39–40
Marcus, Gary, 477n20
marijuana, 175, 185
Maritain, Jacques, 418
Marxism
Critical Theory as quasi-Marxist, 396–7
human costs of, 78, 90–91, 101, 107, 165, 200, 247–8, 271, 364, 430
intellectuals’ sympathy with, 31, 364, 372, 447
See also communism
Marxist guerrillas and terrorists, 158, 195, 197, 198
Marx, Karl, 103, 165, 349, 405
Maslow, Abraham, 224
massive open online courses (MOOCs), 238
Mateen, Omar, 215, 216
maternal mortality, 57–68, 57
Maurras, Charles, 448
meaningful life, 3–4
contrasted with happy life, 267–8
Enlightenment ideals and, 3–4
freedom and, 265–6
humanistic caring and, 434–5
Humanist Manifesto III on, 411
measles, 66
Medellín, Colombia, 172
media
about things that happen vs. don’t happen, 41
anxiety produced by, 286–7
Availability heuristic and, 42, 201
Betteridge’s Law of Headlines, 282
child labor exposed by, 230
climate change coverage, 151
dystopian rhetoric of, 50, 343
fact-checking and, 375–6, 380
gravitas market, 49, 293, 452
liberal tilt of journalism, 372–3, 484n54
mental health perceptions and, 282–3
“nuclear war” less mentioned, 310, 479n80
and pessimism, 40–41, 50, 343
political coverage, improvement of, 381, 383
populism and, 343–4
and shift from glorifying to exposing leaders, 50
terrorism coverage, recommendations for, 197–8
time scale of positive vs. negative events, 41
tone of the news (1945–2010), 50–51, 51
Trump’s election, role of, 50, 343, 376, 449
Trump’s threats to, 336
and violence, portrayal of, 42, 215–16
workplace safety coverage, 186
—NEGATIVE NEWS AS FOCUS OF, 42, 50
anxiety and depression and, 286–7
children and, 229
cumulative psychological effects of, 292
equal rights and, 215
incremental system change, loss of belief in, 50
upticks of problems and, 44
viewed as duty of journalists, 49
Medicare, 109
medicine
blood groups, 64
evidence-based, 380
future gains not calculated in life expectancy, 60
and immortality, hope for, 60–61
new technologies for, 331
progress in, as incremental, 55, 61
sterilization of hands and equipment, 63, 67
See also drugs, pharmaceutical; health; health care; infectious disease; vaccines
Medvedev, Dmitry, 316
Meehl, Paul, 403–4
Mellers, Barbara, 367–8, 370–71
memory, autobiographical, 3, 48, 407
Mencken, H. L., 446
men. See sex differences; women
mental health and illness
cognitive behavioral therapy, 175, 282
depression, 280–83, 284, 476n74
disease mongering/concept creep, 281–2
drugs for, 281, 282
and freedom, 285
paradox of, 282
as percentage of global burden of disease, 282
rates of depression and anxiety, 282–3, 476n74
See also anxiety; suicide
mental models, 22–3
Mercier, Hugo, 380
Merton, Robert, xvii–xviii
methane (natural gas), 136, 143, 147, 183
methodological naturalism, 421–2
Mexican-American War (1946–48), 163
Mexico
agriculture in, 76
homicide rates in, 169, 170, 172
literacy in, 236
Mexican Revolution, 199
social spending in, 109
Trump and immigration from, 336
women’s rights in, 222
Meyer, Bruce, 116
microwave ovens, 252
Midas, King, 299
Middle Ages
accidental death rates in, 180–81
belief in external forces, 9–10
cost of artificial light in, 253, 253
homicide in, 43, 168
poverty and, 79–80
private militias as ubiquitous in, 197
racism and slavery of, 397
middle class
globalization and effects on, 112, 113, 118–19, 339, 340
worldwide increase of, 86, 459–60n18
Middle East and North Africa
carbon emissions of, 144
communist governments in, 200
education in, 236–7, 237
emancipative values in, 227–8, 227, 439
imperialist interventions in, 439
literacy and, 236
refugees from, and European populism, 338
See also Arab countries; Muslim countries; individual countries
Milanović, Branko, 104–5, 111, 112, 113
military governments, 200
military spending, 162, 467n18
Millennials, 225
depression and, 476n74
digital technology and, 244
happiness and, 273
as increasingly liberal, 217
low voter turnout in Trump’s election, 343
secularization and, 437
suicide and, 280
we
ll-being of, 283
Miller, George, 314
Mill, John Stuart, 373, 417
Milošević, Slobodan, 447
mind-body dualism, 3, 22, 422, 427
mining safety and working conditions, 185, 230
minority rights, populist disregard for, 333, 340
misanthropy
of cultural criticism, 34, 247, 446
of traditional environmentalism, 122, 134, 154
Mishima, Yukio, 446
Missouri, capital punishment in, 211
mobile phones/smartphones, 94–5, 257, 331
Mokyr, Joel, 82–3, 332
Molière, 411
Monbiot, George, 264
Mongolia, 85, 86
Monitoring the Future (youth survey), 185
monotonicity, 44
Montefiore, Hugh, 465n76
Montesquieu, 8, 10, 12, 13, 223
Monty Python’s Flying Circus, 392
Mooney, Chris, 387
Moore, Patrick, 465n76
Moore’s Law, 46, 298, 330
morality
as balancing desires conflicting with others’, 414
basis of, 412–15, 419
capital punishment abolition and, 211–12, 213
deontological, 416–18
evolution as selecting for, 415
humanism and, 395, 410
impartiality and, 412–13, 415
progress in, as cumulative, 327
relativists vs. realists, 429–30
and safety regulations, 190
social contracts against harm, 27–8
sympathy and, 415
utilitarian, 415–19
and violence, vulnerability to, 414–15
See also theism and theistic morality
moral sense
abstract reasoning and honing of, 243
deficits in, 26, 140
root-causism and, 169–70
sacrifice and, 140–41
Morgenthau, Hans, 309
Morrison, Philip, 308
Morton, Oliver, 154
Moss, Jonathan, 402
Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 178
motor vehicles
accident deaths, 42, 176–8, 177
deaths in, vs. terrorist deaths, 192, 193
decline in demand for, 135
drunk driving, 178
robotic cars, 180
safety, development of, 177–8, 190
Moynihan, Daniel Patrick, 200
Mozambique, escape from poverty of, 85, 86
Mozgovoi, Aleksandr, 479n93
Mueller, John, 205–6, 263, 305, 310–311, 313
Mugabe, Robert, 91
Mukherjee, Bharati, 284
Muller, Richard, 313
multiethnic communities, 405, 448, 450
multiverse theory, 424–5
Munroe, Randall, 127, 128, 430, 489n52
music, 260, 407
Musk, Elon, 296
Muslim countries
atheists in, 435
cohorts, 442, 491n106
cruel punishments in, 439, 440
emancipative values weakest in, 223, 227–8, 227, 240, 439, 442