Do humankind's best days lie ahead?
By: Steven Pinker, Matt Ridley, Alain de Botton, Malcolm Gladwell ; edited by Rudyard Griffiths
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
Published: 2016
Place of publication: London, England
Language: eng
Number of pages: 111
ISBN-13: 9781786070760; 9781786070777
Copyright date: 2016
Subjects: Progress; Civilization; Forecasting; Social prediction
Description: Is humanity approaching a Golden Age, driven by technology and ever-closer global networks? Or is the notion of progress an illusion born in the West? From the Enlightenment onwards, the West has had an enduring belief that through the evolution of institutions, innovations, and ideas, the human condition is improving. This process is supposedly accelerating as new technologies, individual freedoms, and the spread of global norms empower individuals and societies around the world. But is progress inevitable? Its critics argue that human civilization has become different, not better, over the last two and a half centuries. What is seen as a breakthrough or innovation in one period becomes a setback or limitation in another. In short, progress is an ideology not a fact; a way of thinking about the world as opposed to a description of reality. So is the cup half full or half empty? As part of the Munk Debates series, held in Toronto biannually, pioneering cognitive scientist Steven Pinker and bestselling author Matt Ridley squared off against noted philosopher Alain de Botton and bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell, giving us an entertaining and thought-provoking face-off between four of the world's most renowned thinkers --Publisher's description.
Notes: "Pro: Steven Pinker and Matt Ridley ; Con: Alain de Botton and Malcolm Gladwell. November 6, 2015 Toronto, Ontario."--Page 1.

"First published in 2016 by House of Anansi Press Inc."--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references.