Not every problem is a Crisis, Plague, Epidemic, or Existential Threat, and not every change is the End of This, the Death of That, or the Dawn of a Post-Something Era.
And remember your psychology: much of what we know isn't so, especially when our comrades know it too. Remember your philosophy: one cannot reason that there's no such thing as reason, or that something is true or good because God said it is. Remember your history: the fact that something is bad today doesn't mean it was better in the past. “Remember your math: an anecdote is not a trend. History shows that when we sympathize with others and apply our ingenuity to improving the human condition, we can make progress in doing so, and you can help to continue that progress.”Įnlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress You can foster the welfare of other sentient beings by enhancing life, health, knowledge, freedom, abundance, safety, beauty, and peace. And because reason tells you that none of this is particular to you, you have the responsibility to provide to others what you expect for yourself. You have been endowed with a sense of sympathy-the ability to like, love, respect, help, and show kindness-and you can enjoy the gift of mutual benevolence with friends, family, and colleagues. As the heir to billions of years of life perpetuating itself, you can perpetuate life in turn. You can appreciate the beauty and richness of the natural and cultural world. You can make the most of your capacity for pleasure and satisfaction, which allowed your ancestors to thrive and thereby allowed you to exist.
You can seek explanations of the natural world through science, and insight into the human condition through the arts and humanities. You can refine your faculty of reason itself by learning and debating. And there are so many reasons to live! As a sentient being, you have the potential to flourish. Steven Pinker answers: In the very act of asking that question, you are seeking reasons for your convictions, and so you are committed to reason as the means to discover and justify what is important to you.
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