i'm glad we have brilliant thinkers like stephen pinker to help the big picture. enlightenment now it is my new favorite book of his. without further a do please join me to welcome stephen pinker. [applause] >> thank you very much. from time to time we all ask difficult questions. how can we make the world better had we give meaning and purpose to our lives? as difficult as these questions are for example some believe morality is dictated by the holy scripture and then the world would be perfect or the problems are the fault of either people who are shamed and punished and defeated or to claim the rightful greatness of a strong leader who embodies the authentic virtue or to live in a state of order and harmony until bringing on that degeneration restoring society to the golden age. enlightenment -- in "enlightenment now" i say there is an alternative system of beliefs and values with the enlightenment to use knowledge to enhance human flourishing. when people embrace those ideals fading into the background after the a step -- establish status quo. others have advo

please join mee to welcome stephen pinker. [applause] >> thank you very much how many times we ask deep and difficult questions how do we make this better? hardly gave meaning and purpose to our lives? many people have answers and is dictated by god in holy scriptures it is the fault of evil people who must be shamed and punished and defeated. or to claim the rightful greatness with a strong leader or in the past order and harmony until forces come on the generation to restore the society. what about the rest of us? i argue there is an alternative system of beliefs and values with the ideals of the enlightenment to use knowledge many people embrace that and the need to describe them and the status quo of the ottablishmentp other ideologies have passionate advocates and i suggest this also needs a positive defense that is what i have have tried to do. the ideals of the enlightenment i suggest captured in four key ideas science reason humanism and progress. it all beginsil with reason with the realization traditional sources are

is in prime time tonight as well with a look at the future, experimental cognitive scientist stephen pinker and his book enlightenment now. author greg easterbrook introduces policy reforms to address economic inequality, climate change and more in it's better than it looks. and later, andrew keene with how to fix the future. after that, microsoft president brad smith discusses artificial intelligence in the future computed. and we will show retired air force major general robert lattit who examines the future of warfare and evolving technologies in future war. book tv all this week in prime time beginning tonight at 8:30 eastern on c-span 2. tuesday, an early look at the road to the white house 2020 with ohio republican governor john kasich, a 2016 presidential candidate travels to new hampshire to speak at new england college. our live coverage starts at 5:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> tonight on the communicators, ncta president michael powell is interviewed by kyle daily of politico. >> my own belief is what's happening to facebook today was predictable and icnevitable to some degree. i

is in prime time tonight as well with a look at the future, experimental cognitive scientist stephen pinker explores the thought processes behind extremism and authori authoritarianism. and greg easterbrook addresses economic inequality, climate change and more in "it's better than it looks." later, andrew keene with "how to fix the future." after that, brad smith discusses artificial intelligence and the future computed. we will show retired air force major general robert lattith who explores the future of warfare and evolving technologies in "future war." all this week in prime time beginning tonight at 8:30 eastern on c-span 2. tuesday, an early look at the road to the white house 2020 with ohio republican governor john kasich. the 2016 presidential candidate travels to new hampshire to speak at new england college. live coverage from henniker, new hampshire starts at 5:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> tonight on the communicators, ncta president michael powell is interviewed by kyle daily of politico. >> my own belief is what's happening to facebook today was predictable and inevitable to

experimental cognitive scientist stephen pinker in his book "enlightenment now." and then author gregg easterbrook introduces policy reforms to address economic inequality, climate change and more in "it's better than it looks." later, andrew keen with "how to fix the future." after that microsoft president brad smith discusses artificial intelligence in "the future computed." and we'll show retired air force major general robert latiff who examines the future of warfare and evolving technologies in "future war." booktv all this week in primetime beginning tonight at 8:30 eastern on c-span2. >>> tuesday, an early look at the road to the white house 2020 with ohio governor john kasich. 2016 presidential candidate travels to new hampshire to speak at new england college. our live coverage from henniker, new hampshire, starts at 5:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. >>> tonight on "the communicators," nca president, michael powell-nap president -- >> my own thoughts of facebook today was inevitable to some degree. you have platform based model that emphasizes precision pr pro