1. Steven Pinker
2. Noam Chomsky
We have two choices. We can be pessimistic, give up, and help ensure that the worst will happen. Or we can be optimistic, grasp the opportunities that surely exist, and maybe help make the world a better place. Not much of a choice.
Chomsky, Noam, and C. J. Polychroniou. 2017. Optimism over Despair: On Capitalism, Empire, and Social Change. Chicago, Illinois: Haymarket Books.
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Chomsky’s optimism was represented by a quotation in his own words. Pinker’s optimism was presented by a comic parody. I assume that contrast was by design?
The humour of the cartoon captured perfectly the essence of the relevant material I have read by Pinker. 🙂
Agree–especially love Pinker – and I add one more. David Deutsch he focuses on rigorous thinking and explanatory power and second book, The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations that Transform the World, is incredibly optimistic about how human creativity will continue to solve the problems we face, including the ones we create.
I’m pessimistic about it but I should read it to see if I can be uplifted. 🙂
The blurbs remind me of all the stories we used to hear about families flying to work or the shopping in this or that device, colonies on the moon, etc. The only problem with technological possibilities is politics cum economics. They always trump the know-how, I think.