Munk Debate on Progress ft. Steven Pinker, Matt Ridley, Malcolm Gladwell, Alain de Botton

The 2015 fall Munk debate | Progress

Progress. It is one of the animating concepts of the modern era. 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 empowers 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 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.

Arguing for the resolution will be Steven Pinker, a pioneering cognitive scientist named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World”. He will be joined by the author of The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves, Matt Ridley, whose books have sold over one million copies, been translated into 30 languages and shortlisted for nine major literary prizes.

Speaking against the resolution will be Malcolm Gladwell, author of five New York Times bestsellers and one of Foreign Policy magazine’s “Top 100 Global Thinkers.” Gladwell will be joined by Alain de Botton, founder of The School of Life, who has written a bestselling body of work on the philosophy of everyday life.

For the results of the debate, see https://www.munkdebates.com/The-Debates/Progress

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