female genital mutilation in, 439
fertility decreasing in, 126, 436
homosexuality as crime in, 223, 439, 440
“honor killings” of women in, 439
and humanism, lack of progress in, 439–42
humanistic revolution in, 442–3, 491n106
human rights violations and, 439
separation of mosque and state, 441
theocracies and, 201
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 418–19
women’s rights in, 222, 439, 442, 491n106
See also Arab countries; Islam; Islamist extremists; Muslims
Muslims
conspiracy theories and, 67, 336
hate crimes targeting, 219–20, 220
literal readings of Quran, 440, 490n96
percentage of world population, 436
sharia law and, 440, 490n96
as strongly religious, 440
Trump and immigration of, 336
Mussolini, Benito, 445, 446, 447, 491n118
Mutar, Faisal Saeed Al-, 442
Myanmar (Burma), 203, 419
Myhrvold, Nathan, 477n20
Naam, Ramez, 298, 477n20
Nabokov, Vladimir, 261
Nader, Ralph, 177
Nagel, Thomas, 351–2, 412, 413, 427, 429, 482n4, 488n43
Nalin, David, 64
Namazie, Maryam, 443
Namibia, 203
NASA, 295, 300
Nasr, Amir Ahmad, 443
Nasrin, Taslima, 443
nationalism
as counter-Enlightenment value, 30–31, 448
political ideologies and, 31
romantic nationalism, 165–6, 447, 448, 449–51
Russian, 159
vs. social contract, 31
See also populism
National Science Foundation, 356–7, 387
nation-states
cyber-sabotage accomplished by, 304
as putative units of group selection, 31, 448, 450
romantic nationalism, 165, 447, 448, 449–51
tribalism and, 450
natural disaster deaths, 187–9, 188
destruction of civilizations, 295–6
extinction of human species, 294–5
natural gas (methane), 136, 143, 147, 183
naturalism, 392, 421–2, 486n17
Natural Resources Defense Council, 465n76
natural selection, 18–19
homeostasis discovered by, 22
human intelligence and, 297
humanism and, 413–14
reality as selection pressure, 355
See also evolution
nature
competition and arms races in, 19, 24–5
environmentalism, traditional view of, 122
purpose in, science as refuting, 8, 24, 394–5, 434–5
as robust, 133
Romanticism and, 30, 121
See also natural selection
Nawaz, Maajid, 443
Nazi Germany
Christianity of, 430
counter-Enlightenment ideology of, 397
eugenics and, 399
Holocaust, 161, 397, 399, 430
intellectual fans of, 447
Nietzsche as influence on, 445
public health invoked by, 399
“scientific racism” of, 397–8
See also Germany; Hitler, Adolf
Negativity bias, 47–8, 293
Negroponte, John, 310
Nemirow, Jason, 140
neo-fascism, 419, 448, 451
neo-reaction, 419, 451
Nepal, 203
Netherlands
commerce, embrace of, 84–5
emancipative values in, 225–7, 226, 227
happiness ranking of, 475n30
homicide rates in, 169, 170
life expectancy in, 95
literacy in, 236
populism repudiated in, 338–9
secularization and, 436
social spending in, 108
New Deal, 107–8
New England, homicide rates in, 169, 170
New Peace, 43
New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, 317, 318
Newton, Sir Isaac, 24
New York City, 172, 286–7, 380
New York Times, 44, 50, 74, 97, 151, 280, 292, 373, 409, 420
New Zealand
economic freedom in, 365, 483n39
education in, 237
and escape from poverty, 85
happiness and, 451, 475n30
secularization and, 437, 438–9
social spending in, 365, 483n39
well-being and, 438–9, 451
women’s rights in, 222
Nicaragua, 158
Niebuhr, Reinhold, 311
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 443–7
cultural pessimism, advocate of, 39–40, 406
intellectuals and artists as fans, 445, 446–7, 452
quotations from, 444–5
See also romantic heroism
Niger, 203
Nigeria
democratization of, 203
famine in, 73
killings by Boko Haram in, 162
polio in, 65
secularization and, 436
terrorist deaths in, 193
Nisbet, Robert, 40
Nixon, Richard, 119
Nobel Peace Prize, 203, 232, 240, 316
Nomani, Asra, 443
Non-Proliferation Treaty (1970), 316–17
No Nukes concert and film (1979), 147
nonviolent resistance, success rate of, 405
non-Western Enlightenments, 29–30, 419, 439, 442–3, 456n2
Norberg, Johan, 54–5, 68, 79, 125, 203–4
Nordhaus, Ted, 122, 141–2, 147, 253–4
Nordhaus, William, 138, 253
Nordic countries
egalitarian income distribution in, 98
emancipative values in, 225–7, 226, 227
environment of, 130
and escape from poverty, 85
forced sterilization laws of, 399
human rights in, 208, 208
Norma Rae (film), 113
Norris, Pippa, 224, 340
North, Douglass, 83
North Korea
Arduous March, 78
as autocratic, 201–2
conflict with South Korea, 158
democratization and, 206
famine in, 78
human rights in, 208, 208
nuclear weapons and, 317, 320
poverty in, 90
Norvig, Peter, 477n20
Norway
emancipative values in, 225–7, 226, 227
happiness ranking of, 475n30
human rights in, 208, 208
income per capita in, 271
populism and, 341
nostalgia, 48, 113, 256
Nozick, Robert, 99
nuclear power, 144–5, 146–50, 330, 465n76
nuclear war, 307–321
balance of terror, 315
ban on (Global Zero), 315–17, 320–21
close calls, 310, 312–13, 318, 479nn93,95
deterrence and, 312, 314–15, 317
fear, failure to mobilize public, 308–311, 479n80
Graduated Reciprocation in Tension-Reduction (GRIT), 318, 320
historical pessimism and, 308
and international relations, 312, 315
launch on warning (hair trigger), 315, 319–20
Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), 315
nations with capacity, 313, 317–18, 318
New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), 317, 318
no-first-use pledge, 320
Non-Proliferation Treaty (1970), 316–17
nuclear winter, 308, 310
probability of nuclear war, 312–13
proliferation limited, 313
reduction of arsenal, 317–19, 318, 480nn113,117,121
second-strike capacity, 315, 319
security dilemma (Hobbesian trap) of, 315
Trump and, 336–7
nuclear weapons
arms race during Cold War, 291, 308, 311
complacency about, 286
Hiroshima bombing, 305
Manhattan Project and development of, 314
terrorism as threat, 310–311, 313–14
treaty banning atmospheric testing, 133–4
uranium extracted for power plants, 149, 317
Nunn, Sam, 316, 319
Nussbaum, Martha, 248, 264, 413
Nye, Bill, 434
Nyerere, Julius, 447
Obama, Barack
approval rating on departure, 338
bullying as issue for, 49
conspiracy theories about, 336, 358
farewell speech and Enlightenment, 338, 481n30
as first African American U.S. president, 214
health care and, 109
on income inequality, 97
on “now” as best time to be born, 37
and nuclear weapons, 316, 319, 320–21, 336–7
racism and, 217
Republican obstructionism and, 432
theoconservatives and, 449
Obamacare, 109
Obama, Michelle, 214
obesity epidemic, 69
objective measurement
actuarial formulas outperforming experts, 403–4
as goal of scientific literacy, 403–5
as morally enlightened, 43
Naomi Klein’s dismissal of, 139
resisters of scientific thinking objecting to, 403
See also data
occupational safety and accident deaths, 185–7, 187
Occupy Wall Street, 97
Oceania, postcolonial governments of, 201
oceans
acidification of, 137, 138, 153
and carbon dioxide (CO2) capture, 136, 150
deep-sea vents as biological energy source, 19
desalination of water, 129, 149
fisheries, 325
geoengineering and, 150, 152–3
marine conservation areas, 132–3, 133
sea level rise, 137, 138
species extinctions and, 463n32
Oklahoma City bombing (1995), 194
Olds, Jacqueline, 274
O’Neill, Eugene, 446
O’Neill, William, 286
Ono, Yoko, 166
On the Waterfront (film), 113
opioid overdoses, 184–5
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 308
optimism
attacks on, 39, 49
complacent vs. conditional, 154–5
enlightenment as, 7
historical improvement as basis for, 51, 327–8
Optimism Gap, 40, 115, 225–6, 268
perceived as salesmanship, 49
rational (pessimistic hopefulness, possibilism, protopia, opti-realism), 52, 344–5, 482n55
See also pessimism
order
improbability of, 15–16, 24, 25
life as, 18–19, 20
meaning of life as creation despite entropy, 17
self-organization, 17–19
Orlando nightclub massacre, 215, 216
Orlov, Vadim Pavlovich, 479n93
Osgood, Charles, 318
Osler, William, 63
Ottoman Empire, 430, 439
Our World in Data (Web site), xviii, 52
Pacification Process, 43
pacifist’s dilemma, 166, 414, 488n10
Paddock, William and Paul, 74
Pagden, Anthony, 482n6
Pagel, Mark, 477n20
Paine, Thomas, 409
Pakistan
agriculture in, 76
climate change and, 151
as democracy, 207
and literacy, female, 239, 240
nuclear weapons and, 307–8, 317, 318, 320
polio in, 65
terrorist deaths in, 193
Palin, Sarah, 374–5
Pan-African Parliament, 222
Panama, 85, 86
pantheism, 8, 422
paradox of value (income statistics can mislead)
definition of, 82
globalization and, 117
increasing with humanism, 332–3
inequality and, 117
technology and, 117, 332–3
paranormal phenomena, 422, 427, 428
Parfit, Derek, 429
Paris, terrorism and, 219
Paris Agreement on climate, 134, 152, 335, 449
Paris Peace Pact (1928), 163–4
Parker, Dorothy, 248, 277
Parker, Theodore, 223
Pascal, Blaise, 162
Pasteur, Louis, 63
Paulsen, Pat, 332, 365
peace, 13–14, 156–66
democracy as fostering, 162–3
education as fostering, 235
as inherently worthy, 164–5, 166
peacekeeping forces, success of, 404–5
romantic militarism giving way to, 165–6
as self-reinforcing, 164
See also Long Peace; war
Peak Car, Carbon, Children, Coal, Paper, Timber, 144
Peak Farmland, 76, 144
Peak Oil, 135
Peak Stuff, 135–6
Peanuts (comic), 377
Pearl Harbor, 196
pedestrian deaths, 179–80, 179
Pelopidas, Benoît, 316
period (zeitgeist) effects, 224–5
happiness and, 272–4, 275
religious belief and, 437–8
See also age (life cycle) effects; cohort effects
permafrost, melting, 136
Perry, William, 316, 319
Persia, ancient, 23, 398
Peru, 158, 160
pessimism, 33, 39–52
about democratization, 201
about human rights, 207
about life expectancy, 53
mistaken for moral seriousness, 49
as one-upmanship, 49
and populism, xvii, 50, 343–4
about racism, sexism, and homophobia, 215
and sympathy, expansion of circle of, 49
about terrorism, 191
and Trump’s election, 340
See also fatalism; intellectuals; media; optimism; romantic heroism
—CULTURAL PESSIMISM, 33
doomsday scenarios from, 293, 294
German, 165
and happiness, lack of, 263–4, 268
and the humanities, malaise of, 406
quality of life, 247
and romantic militarism, 165–6
about science, 400
—HISTORICAL PESSIMISM, 33
and democracy, 201
and nuclear war, 308
root-causism, 169–71
petroleum
carbon-to-hydrogen ratio of, 143
deaths caused by, 146–7
new technologies for use of, 330
See also climate change; coal; energy
Pew Research Center, 216, 222
pharmaceutical drugs. See drugs, pharmaceutical
Philippines, 152, 200, 336
philosophy, 23, 433, 434
arguments lead to moral progress, 210, 409
arguments about consciousness, 425–8
arguments on reason and rationality, 8, 351–3
and consilience with science, 407
naturalism as favored position of, 392, 486n17
not divorced from empirical world, 391–2
Second Culture misconceptions of, 408–9
See also reason
photography, 257
Picasso, Pablo, 447
Pickett, Kate, 100, 101
Piketty, Thomas, 99
Pimm, Stuart, 133
Pinker, Robert, xviii
Pinker, Roslyn, xviii
Pinker, Susan, xviii, 274
Pinter, Harold, 447
plague, 80
plane crash deaths, 42, 180, 180
plane travel, democratization of, 257–8, 258
plants, energy/food production, 19, 150
Plato, 381, 421, 428–9, 431
pneumonia, childhood deaths from, 66
poison, deaths from, 182, 183–4
Poland, 201, 334, 341, 436
police
killings of African Americans, 215–16, 471n6
and violent crime reduction, 168, 173–4, 176
See also rule of law
polio, 63–4, 65
political ideologies of left and right
belief in evolution and, 356
as biased on specific polarized topics, 361–3
conservative rejection of ideal of progress, 363–4
democracy undermined by, 374
denial of climate change and, 357
eugenics and, 399–400
innumeracy on polarized topics, 360–61
irrationality of issues charged with, 381–4
journalism and, 372–3, 484n54
leftist sympathy for Marxism, 364
libertarian right extremism, 364–5
moderates, 372
nationalism and, 31
polarization increasing, 371, 374–5
populism and, 334
predictions affected by, inaccuracy of, 368, 371
rational approach to politics vs., 365–6
religion and, 31–2
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