Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress

Adorno, Theodor, 39–40, 396–7

adversarial collaboration, 379

Aeschylus, 23

affective tipping point, 377

Afghanistan

democratization and, 206

environment of, 130

happiness ranking of, 475n30

literacy rate in, 236, 239, 240, 473n27

polio in, 65

Soviet invasion of, 439

Taliban control of, 240, 473n27

terrorist vs. war deaths in, 192, 193

U.S.-led invasion of, 197, 206, 473n27

Africa (sub-Saharan)

agriculture in, 76, 77–8

calories available per person in, 70

carbon emissions of, 144

child mortality and, 56, 56

colonial governments of, 78

Communist governments in, 200, 201

conservation movement and, 123

democratization and, 203, 206

economic inequality in, 98

education in, 236–8, 237–8

emancipative values in, 227, 227

environment of, 130

famine in, 69, 72–3, 78

female genital mutilation in, 222

fertility rates and, 436

GDP of, 95

HIV/AIDS in, 55, 66, 67

homicide rates and concentrations in, 172

homophobia in, 223

Human Development Index score for, 473n45

IQ gains in, 241, 241

life expectancy in, 53–5, 54, 59

multiethnic neighbors, peacefulness of, 405

per capita income in, 86–7

and personal violence, deaths from, 167

postcolonial governments of, 78, 200, 201

religiosity and, 436

undernourishment in, 72

women’s rights and, 222

See alsoindividual countries

African Americans

education and, 239

happiness of, 272, 273

hate crimes against, 215, 219, 220, 471n18

life expectancy of, 219

literacy rates of, 219

police killings of, 215–16, 471n6

poverty rate among, 219

and Tuskegee syphilis study, 401

See also racism

age (life cycle) effects, 225

happiness, 272–3

political orientation, 341–2, 342

religious belief, 437–8

suicide, 278, 279

voting preferences, 342

See also cohort effects; period (zeitgeist) effects

Age of Reason, 8, 411

agriculture

Agricultural Revolution, 75, 83

birth of, 74, 123

density of, 234

genetically modified crops, 77–8, 331

government policies disrupting, 78

Green Revolution, 75–8

industrialization and abandonment of, 92–3

invention of, 23

land devoted to, 76

life expectancy and, 53–4

mechanization of, 74–5

organic, 74, 134

prices, 75

reforestation of land and, 130, 134

rice cultivation, 69, 93, 123, 331

selective breeding, 74, 76

synthetic fertilizers, 75, 83

transportation and, 75, 77, 78

yield increases, 74–5

See also food and food security

AIDS/HIV, 55, 66, 66, 67, 401

AI. See artificial intelligence (AI)

Akbar I (Mughal emperor), 442

Akyol, Mustafa, 442

Alaska, universal basic income and, 119

Alcott, Louisa May, 284

Alexander, Amy, 440

Ali, Ayaan Hirsi, 443

Allen, Paul, 477n20

Allen, Woody, 204, 285–6

Al Qaeda, 196, 310, 441

Althusser, Louis, 447

alt-right movement, 341, 419, 448, 482n44

Amazon River and rainforest, 130, 141

American Heritage Dictionary, 260

Amin, Idi, 161, 199

anarchist movements, 198

anarchy, death toll from, 199, 206

Angell, Norman, 481n16

Angola, 160

animals

cruelty-to-animals laws, 417

humanism and, 410

predator/prey, 19

returns vs. extinctions of, 130, 133, 463n32

anocracies, 470n15

anthropology, 10, 233, 402

anti-Semitism, 219, 220. See also Holocaust

Anton, Michael (“Publius Decius Mus”), 448, 449

anxiety, 283

adulthood and, 288–9

“collapse anxiety,” 292

depression as comorbid with, 283

and institutions, loss of faith in, 286

media practices of encouraging, 287

as motivation to solve problems, 287

postwar increase in, 284

prevalence of depression and, 282–3, 476n74

sex differences in, 285

strategems for coping with, 287

women’s gains in autonomy and, 285

Appiah, Kwame Anthony, 443

Aquino, Corazon, 91

Arab countries

classical Arab civilization, 439, 442

clerical meddling in education, 234

slavery/racism and, 397

See also Muslim countries

Arab Spring (2011), 203, 228, 370

archaeology, 407

Argentina, 200, 315

Ariely, Dan, 353

Aristotle, eudaemonia, 267

Arkhipov, Vasili, 479n93

Armenia, 158

artificial intelligence (AI)

“Artificial General Intelligence” (AGI), 297, 298

and Enlightenment thinkers, 386

as existential threat, putative, 296–300, 477n20

job losses and, 118, 300

Value Alignment Problem, 299–300

arts and culture

availability of, 260–61

and consilience with science, 407–9

depicting traditionalism vs. modernity, 284

ideological innumeracy and, 48

Nietzsche as influence on, 445, 446–7

vs. science, 34, 389–90

Aryans, romantic heroism and, 33, 398, 444

Asafu-Adjaye, John, 122

Asia

authoritarian regimes, rise of, 200

carbon emissions of, 144

famine in, 69, 78

globalization and, 111, 112, 117

IQ gains in, 241

life expectancy in, 53–4, 54, 55

military governments of, 200

postcolonial governments of, 78

undernourishment in, 72

See alsoindividual countries and subregions

Asians, hate crimes against, 219, 220

Asiri, Abdullah al-, 303

Assad, Bashar al-, 159

Astell, Mary, 252

atheism and atheists

charitable acts by, 432

dangers of self-labeling as, 435

definition of, 430

moral realism of, 429

“New Atheism,” 430

numbers of, 435, 436, 437–8, 489n68, 490n65

rising Intelligence Quotient test scores and, 438

wars by, 429–30

Athens (ancient), 212

Atkins, Peter, 17

Auden, W. H., 283, 446