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| Courtyard of the Muses (Public Domain) |
According to
Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, 17th-century
Enlightenment ideas have vastly
improved life here on earth. Reason-based
science has demonstrably raised
humanity from the depths of despair.
Pinker cites
statistics as evidence of this. For example,
“the homicide rate in England was 50 times
higher in the 14th century than it is today.”
Great progress has also been made in economics,
education, nutrition and health.
Although
science has sometimes been blamed for causing
misery, Pinker begs to differ. He explains
that you can’t blame science for what “a
bunch of people who call themselves scientists”
has done.
Being human,
scientists “are not completely rational.” A system of checks and balances, including
peer review and empirical testing, can therefore
help to “make us collectively more
rational than any of us is individually.”
Resources
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/19/science/steven-pinker-future-science.html
Copyright November 22, 2018 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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