Enlightenment Now?

Things sure are getting better now that science has all the answers. At least that’s what one Harvard professor thinks.

On their classic Sgt. Pepper album, the Beatles sang “I’ve got to admit it’s getting better . . . A little better all the time.” This ode to optimism was interspersed with lines like “it can’t get no worse.”

Obviously, the lads from Liverpool weren’t entirely convinced.

But a prominent scientist has written a best-selling book arguing that things are getting better and will continue to do so. But his argument is far from convincing.

The book is “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress” by Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker.

In Pinker’s estimation, “None of us are as happy as we ought to be, given how amazing our world has become.” He is annoyed that people are moaning, whining, carping, and, to use a delightful Yiddish word, kvetching “as much as ever” despite how awesome the world has become.

In some respects, he’s correc