Levi M.

Beautiful and Deeply Thought-Provoking

Revisado: 03-11-18

Relatable characters (at least to people familiar with academic spheres), a gripping plot, and subtle explorations into difficult philosophical, psychological, and moral problems through dialogue and narrative (along with a brilliantly concise appendix that brings more rigor than is commonly employed in popular analyses of "the God question") made this book a joy to read. The author, though certainly approximately aligned with the New Atheists, is more sympathetic to the meaningfullness religious belief can foster than most authors who argue against the existence of God for the public.

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Best Non-Fiction I've Read in Years

Revisado: 03-03-18

Contrary to some critics' assesssments, Pinker is not a Panglossian optimist. Data, data, and more data--along with highly logical, brilliantly analytical interpretations of that data--underpin this informative, endlessly engaging book (and the uplifting message it conveys to anyone canny enough to second guess the prevalent pessimism--from all shades of the political spectrum--about the state of our world and the value of the Enlightment principles that have helped shape it). His wide breadth of knowledge in science, history, and many other fields and his even-handed, evidence-based approach to every topic he covers convey an air of humble authority that puts most popular writers on science and culture to shame. Pinker's unrelenting application of reason and evidence to understanding our times and the history of ideas and cultural forces that have brought us here is like a breath of fresh air to anyone who spends time listening to pundits, journalists, or social critics. If the ideas of reason, evidense, or science seem passé or naive to you, give Pinker a chance to change your mind. Much of the book is devoted to defending those Enlightenment ideals, and he doesn't just set up strawmen--he takes seriously opinions opposed to his own and ventures solid, sophisticated philosophical arguments to sway those queasy about his conclusions or approach. Anyone with a heart may find Pinker's vigorous championing of humanism and human progress deeply moving, humbling, and even, perhaps, enlightening.

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Not Smart

Revisado: 02-12-18

Listened to about half. Highly partisan. I don't think the author has a firm grasp of statistics or, more importantly, their interpretation. The highly political tone makes me suspect he is cherry picking his data. Some interesting criticism of landmark "scientific" studies used by the left, many of which he calls "fake science" (and rightly so I think--for some). But his unskilled and highly biased interpretations of scientific data are ironic, since the whole point of the book is to show how the left does exactly that. He succeeds on some points in the early chapters I read, but on the whole, I think his positions are firmly ideological and that he only uses science (and poor criticism of science) opportunistically to defend his deep-felt political and moral convictions.

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