Nando de Freitas

If you think the world is coming to an end, think again: people are living longer, healthier, freer, and happier lives, and while our problems are formidable, the solutions lie in the Enlightenment ideal of using reason and science. Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases. Instead, follow the data: In seventy-five jaw-dropping graphs, Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West, but worldwide. This progress is not the result of some cosmic force. It is a gift of the Enlightenment: the conviction that reason and science can enhance human flourishing. Far from being a naïve hope, the Enlightenment, we now know, has worked. But more than ever, it needs a vigorous defense. The Enlightenment project swims against currents of human nature–tribalism, authoritarianism, demonization, magical thinking–which demagogues are all too willing to exploit. Many commentators, committed to political, religious, or romantic ideologies, fight a rearguard action against it. The result is a corrosive fatalism and a willingness to wreck the precious institutions of liberal democracy and global cooperation. With intellectual depth and literary flair, Enlightenment Now makes the case for reason, science, and humanism: the ideals we need to confront our problems and continue our progress.

«Este libro narra la historia de una ciencia que, a pesar de haber transformado la manera en la que distinguimos los hechos de la acción, apenas ha recibido la atención del público general. Las consecuencias de esta nueva ciencia ya están impactando en facetas cruciales de nuestra vida y tienen el potencial de afectar a un número aún mayor, desde el desarrollo de nuevos fármacos hasta el control de la política económica, desde la educación y la robótica hasta el control de armas y el calentamiento global. Y todo ello por hacer una pregunta simple: ¿Por qué? Si pudiera resumir el mensaje de este libro en una frase lo más concisa posible, diría: usted es más inteligente que los datos. Los datos no comprenden las causas y los efectos; las personas, sí. Espero que la nueva ciencia de la inferencia causal nos permitirá comprender mejor cómo lo hacemos, porque no existe una forma mejor de entendernos a nosotros mismos que emulándonos». JUDEA PEARL «¿Alguna vez te has interesado por los rompecabezas y el misterio de las causas y los efectos? En este libro encontrarás respuestas que iluminarán tu camino. Además, es entretenidísimo». DANIEL KAHNEMAN (autor de Pensar rápido, pensar despacio).

Explore the fascinating story of a human-like creature called "Boskops" that flourished in South Africa 10,000 years ago. With forebrains 50% larger than ours and estimated IQs to match, they far surpassed our own intelligence. In "Big Brain," prominent neuroscientists compare the Boskop brain to our own and draw startling conclusions about our creativity and intellect. Discover the implications of large brains for cutting-edge fields like genetics, evolution, memory, and intelligence, and explore the future of brain-based robots and neural prosthetics. This accessible and thought-provoking book offers tantalizing insights into our humanity, past, and future.

Discover the fascinating evolution of the human brain, from its basic functions in simple organisms to the complex capacity that we possess today. In this provocative study, readers are introduced to exciting developments in science surrounding brain evolution. Learn about the multitude of evolutionary developments that played a role in our brains' development, from genetics to environment and behavior. Evolving Brains provides a clear and informative map of the brain's journey through time, offering readers a complete picture of who we are and where we come from.