Mayflower, Nathaniel Philbrick

Mayflower:  A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick is the story of the Mayflower that brought the pilgrims to the New World.  I bought this book when a friend of my wife's came to visit.  Before it rose to the top of my unread books, I had passed it onto my mother-in-law to enjoy and she felt it was excellent.

Started:  1/11/2017

Completed: 10/22/2018

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

An interesting story that tells me a lot I did not know about the journey itself.  I also learned a ton about King Phillip's war.  For some reason I thought that King Phillip must have been an English king.  I was completely wrong, King Phillip was an Indian.  The story ends well into the 1800s, so it is much more than the story of the Mayflower itself.  It took me a long time to get through because I was listening on audio and I had to return the CDs to the library.  Recently, I was able to get them out once more and finished the last few.

This book is not a page turner.  This book is a rather slow read largely because the topics discussed are so discordant from the taught history.  I have to agree with Philbrick that I went quickly from the pilgrims to the civil war without really considering what came in between.

Enlightenment Now, Stephen Pinker

Enlightenment Now:  The case for reason, science, humanism and progress by Steven Pinker is how a Harvard psychology professor explains why it is important to pay attention to science NOW!  I cannot remember how I stumbled on Pinker, probably in an article about Chomsky.  In any case, I started searching around the internet for information about him and I came across this book.  It looked like a good book, particularly for the times.  I am listening to the audio version on my commute.  Given that graphs are an important part of the book, I'm hoping that does not cause a problem.

Started: 9/12/2018

Completed: 10/18/2018

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:
It is no surprise that a scientist calls for science to be respected.  Pinker makes a strong argument not only for science (the concept of partisan science is abhorrent to him) but for humanism.  He calls for increases in human flourishing and points out that while the graph of progress is not without its ups and downs, the general trend is up and it is significantly up over time.  The case he builds is strong and he makes a good argument that those who look at the current times as bleak (even under Trump) are taking a microscope to a landscape.  Sure, Trump is trampling all kinds of things that are important to humanism, but it is really unlikely that he can affect the long term trend on the graph.  The bulk of humanity is working hard to make life better not just for themselves (as do certain megalomaniacs), but for everyone.  This can continue without the leadership and Pinker makes the case that Trump represents a last gasp for fanatic populism in the United States.

The bottom line is that most of us approach problems by applying reason rather than an appeal to a deity.  An appeal to a deity defies reason (believe because there is no evidence rather than here is the evidence for the decision) and the practice is waning (even very religious people seek for a reason to do something).  This is an indicator that enlightenment thought is continuing to impact the world and while there may be the occasional speed bump, the general trend is progressive and supportive of liberal values.  There is no time in the past that is better then the present in general (although there may be for a particular time and place--consider a Roman after the fall of Rome; now consider that same Roman in the United States at any time and things would be markedly better in every way). 

Enlightenment thought calls for all of us to be more liberal (forward looking to the betterment of humanity) than conservative (backward looking to keep things at some better state).  Nothing gets better by stagnating (the call of the conservative).  There are risks in moving forward, but the long term trends are clear that moving forward leads to a better life even if there are setbacks along the way.  This book is recommended.