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

Merton, Robert, xvii–xviii

methane (natural gas), 136, 143, 147, 183

methodological naturalism, 421–2

Mexican-American War (1946–48), 163

Mexico

agriculture in, 76

homicide rates in, 169, 170, 172

literacy in, 236

Mexican Revolution, 199

social spending in, 109

Trump and immigration from, 336

women’s rights in, 222

Meyer, Bruce, 116

microwave ovens, 252

Midas, King, 299

Middle Ages

accidental death rates in, 180–81

belief in external forces, 9–10

cost of artificial light in, 253, 253

homicide in, 43, 168

poverty and, 79–80

private militias as ubiquitous in, 197

racism and slavery of, 397

middle class

globalization and effects on, 112, 113, 118–19, 339, 340

worldwide increase of, 86, 459–60n18

Middle East and North Africa

carbon emissions of, 144

communist governments in, 200

education in, 236–7, 237

emancipative values in, 227–8, 227, 439

imperialist interventions in, 439

literacy and, 236

refugees from, and European populism, 338

See also Arab countries; Muslim countries; individual countries

Milanović, Branko, 104–5, 111, 112, 113

military governments, 200

military spending, 162, 467n18

Millennials, 225

depression and, 476n74

digital technology and, 244

happiness and, 273

as increasingly liberal, 217

low voter turnout in Trump’s election, 343

secularization and, 437

suicide and, 280

well-being of, 283

Miller, George, 314

Mill, John Stuart, 373, 417

Milošević, Slobodan, 447

mind-body dualism, 3, 22, 422, 427

mining safety and working conditions, 185, 230

minority rights, populist disregard for, 333, 340

misanthropy

of cultural criticism, 34, 247, 446

of traditional environmentalism, 122, 134, 154

Mishima, Yukio, 446

Missouri, capital punishment in, 211

mobile phones/smartphones, 94–5, 257, 331

Mokyr, Joel, 82–3, 332

Molière, 411

Monbiot, George, 264

Mongolia, 85, 86

Monitoring the Future (youth survey), 185

monotonicity, 44

Montefiore, Hugh, 465n76

Montesquieu, 8, 10, 12, 13, 223

Monty Python’s Flying Circus, 392

Mooney, Chris, 387

Moore, Patrick, 465n76

Moore’s Law, 46, 298, 330

morality

as balancing desires conflicting with others’, 414

basis of, 412–15, 419

capital punishment abolition and, 211–12, 213

deontological, 416–18

evolution as selecting for, 415

humanism and, 395, 410

impartiality and, 412–13, 415

progress in, as cumulative, 327

relativists vs. realists, 429–30

and safety regulations, 190

social contracts against harm, 27–8

sympathy and, 415

utilitarian, 415–19

and violence, vulnerability to, 414–15

See also theism and theistic morality

moral sense

abstract reasoning and honing of, 243

deficits in, 26, 140

root-causism and, 169–70

sacrifice and, 140–41

Morgenthau, Hans, 309

Morrison, Philip, 308

Morton, Oliver, 154

Moss, Jonathan, 402

Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 178

motor vehicles

accident deaths, 42, 176–8, 177

deaths in, vs. terrorist deaths, 192, 193

decline in demand for, 135

drunk driving, 178

robotic cars, 180

safety, development of, 177–8, 190

Moynihan, Daniel Patrick, 200

Mozambique, escape from poverty of, 85, 86

Mozgovoi, Aleksandr, 479n93

Mueller, John, 205–6, 263, 305, 310–311, 313

Mugabe, Robert, 91

Mukherjee, Bharati, 284

Muller, Richard, 313

multiethnic communities, 405, 448, 450

multiverse theory, 424–5

Munroe, Randall, 127, 128, 430, 489n52

music, 260, 407

Musk, Elon, 296

Muslim countries

atheists in, 435

cohorts, 442, 491n106

cruel punishments in, 439, 440

emancipative values weakest in, 223, 227–8, 227, 240, 439, 442

female genital mutilation in, 439

fertility decreasing in, 126, 436

homosexuality as crime in, 223, 439, 440

“honor killings” of women in, 439

and humanism, lack of progress in, 439–42

humanistic revolution in, 442–3, 491n106

human rights violations and, 439

separation of mosque and state, 441

theocracies and, 201

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 418–19

women’s rights in, 222, 439, 442, 491n106

See also Arab countries; Islam; Islamist extremists; Muslims

Muslims

conspiracy theories and, 67, 336

hate crimes targeting, 219–20, 220

literal readings of Quran, 440, 490n96

percentage of world population, 436

sharia law and, 440, 490n96

as strongly religious, 440

Trump and immigration of, 336

Mussolini, Benito, 445, 446, 447, 491n118

Mutar, Faisal Saeed Al-, 442

Myanmar (Burma), 203, 419

Myhrvold, Nathan, 477n20

Naam, Ramez, 298, 477n20

Nabokov, Vladimir, 261

Nader, Ralph, 177

Nagel, Thomas, 351–2, 412, 413, 427, 429, 482n4, 488n43

Nalin, David, 64

Namazie, Maryam, 443

Namibia, 203

NASA, 295, 300

Nasr, Amir Ahmad, 443

Nasrin, Taslima, 443

nationalism

as counter-Enlightenment value, 30–31, 448

political ideologies and, 31

romantic nationalism, 165–6, 447, 448, 449–51

Russian, 159

vs. social contract, 31

See also populism

National Science Foundation, 356–7, 387

nation-states

cyber-sabotage accomplished by, 304

as putative units of group selection, 31, 448, 450

romantic nationalism, 165, 447, 448, 449–51

tribalism and, 450

natural disaster deaths, 187–9, 188

destruction of civilizations, 295–6

extinction of human species, 294–5

natural gas (methane), 136, 143, 147, 183

naturalism, 392, 421–2, 486n17