Steven Pinker: Enlightenment Now | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) 

It would have been good if he let Steven speak.

You invite one of the smartest, most eloquent public thinkers in the world and you don't let him speak.

I wish Pinker had a bit more time to state his case. The exchange that followed this segment was almost painful to watch. Not sure what Hughley's problem was, but his claim that life hasn't improved for black people in the US since the 70s was so absurdly and obviously false that I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing. And for him to use Pinker as the unwitting strawman/fall guy in that way was just... ugly.

Why invite someone and not let them speak. Love Bill but this sometimes blows my mind

I loves this line in futurama when Fry says he’s glad climate change never happened and Leela responded “actually it did, but nuclear winter canceled it out.”

Loved "Enlightenment Now", Pinker is an absolute beast of an intellectual!

can you let him speak..

Top tier hair

This part of the show should have been labelled 'Monologue'.

for the good of humanity, Bill should let Steven talk

YAY! Love professor Pinker!!! Thanks for having him on Bill.

The confusion between points Bill and DL were saying and Pinker's points is the perspective. Pinker has stepped back and looked at the broader picture, whereas Bill and then DL were looking at specifics. [The same mistake made with weather and climate change.] But the screaming people in the audience actually makes this show very difficult to bear.

let him talk ffs

I love Steven Pinker!!!

Pinker is the breath of fresh air we deserve.

My intellectual hero...Pinkert. It is unreal that some young people dismiss him and his contributions. But then that very same group will sit down tonight and watch the Kardashians. What a disgrace that my country has become so anti-science. Btw Bill, either let this man speak, or give him a longer segment.

Hughley was annoying during the whole show. He used every opportunity to dumb down the conversation just so he could insert part of his stand up routine.

Bill barely let Pinker speak

I do love how pinker gives Bill slight corrections but still keeps the conversation going.

Bill...give the man a chance to speak ONE full sentence...please! Lol

There is a reason why people don't realise things are better today than at any time in the past: negativity bias. Basically, your average person is more naturally inclined to ponder what went wrong, rather than what goes right.

7 out of 10 people will share a negative experience while only 3 of 10 will share a positive one. Share this video.

Pinker’s hair is too good.

Yes, to know what Steven Pinker has to say, you must read his books. He's been writing for decades.

I love how they all applaud as if someone in the studio accomplished these things

Hans Rosling is turning in his grave. He was making these points for 20 years.

Steven Pinker has something significant to say on, as far as I know so far reading one of his books now & having listened to many of his lectures & interviews, just about all of the points Bill Maher makes. In agreement with many comments here; it's a shame Steven Pinker didn't get to say more here. He definitely gets my vote. I think Bill Maher gets my vote also!

What was the point of Steven Pinker even appearing on this show? It is just a relentless rant from Bill.

It is a contest between Bill and Chris Matthews on MSNBC as to who dominates the conversation most during interviews. Both of them clearly like the sound of their respective voices.

I always thought that the media didn't mention good news because it isn't click bait.

Thank capitalist free markets for bringing people out of poverty

Bill I love you but you gotta let the guy speak some more.

Let Him Speak !!!!

Balance is certainly important... but while good news is nice to hear, it doesn't require attention the way bad news does. We hear about bad news more often, not only because it sells better... but also because it's the news that needs something done about. When the plumber comes, you don't give him a tour of all the fixtures that work... you take him to the toilet spewing crap all over the bathroom.

By far the most advanced human I follow. Study his work.

On climate change NEVER EVER did I ever have maggots in my house. Except for this year, that heat on the garbage in my kitchen gave me loads of maggots!!! Garbage pickup is only once a week.

That's awesome. We need to hear more about the good news :)

Jesus has Bill forgotten what it is to interview someone ffs shut up and listen for once!!!

That 90% is good, but the other 10% is what bothers me. Anything bad is still unacceptable.

4:30 "WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF SAND???" lolololol

lets blame everything on trump

STEVEN PINKER HAS THE BEST HAIR IN SCIENCE.

Are we not taxed enough? Income tax, social security tax(because they are never going to give us our money back), gasoline tax, sales tax, property tax, and now a carbon tax? Who is going to pay for that? And how is that exactly going to solve the problem? The carbon tax is just going to hurt the poor and middle class. Not only will the corporations pass their carbon taxes to the consumers, but those same consumers will be taxed for their every day normal activities. So the carbon tax will be a double slap in the face to the most vulnerable in this country. How can anyone be on board with this?

I know this is a side point but that run in the beginning was hilarious

*Invites public intellectual knowledgeable, informed and in possession of statistics and scientific studies* Doesn't let him speak for longer than one half a sentence...

Pinker’s curls are poppin!

The EU is not breaking up, get your facts straight.

I like how the entitled black guy didn't want to believe anything Pinker had to say, he could feel his victim-hood credits dissolving away, so he took over Pinker's time with pointless stories, good thing they cut it out. Pinker should have been the interview guest.

I'd love it if Bill would have just let Professor Pinker actually talk for a little while. I know it's his show, but I really wish he'd be more generous with the floor when he has a guest.

Steven doing his best Fran Lebowitz

Pinker's underlying goal is to provide a counter voice to shows like Real Time, which perpetuate negativity much like all news outlets, and in doing so Maher managed to speak over him with pure negativity - the irony is uncanny.

"Are you in favour...?" Tough question to ask a politician right after that talk. Must be hard to say no after that setup.

And all that progress in our country is in large part due to regulations that Twitler is now tearing to pieces.

Can Bill not get through a whole 5 minutes without saying the word Trump???

I completely agree with Pinker in general terms. The problem for me is his tendency to don't accept exceptions to his rules. The fact is the man never had the ability to destroy the full world as now has, even the violence in general has indeed decreased. He should integrate that concept in his general theory in a more elegant way. He does something similar in the blank slate book when he denies the influence of the parents to a great extend. Yes, parents are only a fragment, and probably not the biggest of what will become the personality of the children but he minimizes their importance too much.

The only thing that’s changed is access to information and immediacy of bad news reaching your hand.

What's the point of a guest if Bill is the only one talking?

Steven can not convince me to treat the average Liberal or Conservative as anything other than an extreme threat to my existence.

Why having guests if you are not going to let them talk

Carbon tax will ULTIMATELY be used to TAX EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE.

I'm still living in 200years ago . I'm flat broke.

11/10 hair my dude.

The ultimate problem with climate change is an increase in atmospheric and oceanic heat. Heat is energy. Is there no way to convert that into electrical energy, and by doing so lower atmospheric and oceanic temperatures?

Let's tax everything just for the sake of taxing = Carbon tax plan

If Bill Maher agreed with Steven Pinker his show will be over but its good he is inviting the right kind of guests.

Actually honeybees are recovering. It's native bees that are in trouble.

Bill, why isn’t the American gun violence crisis mentioned on your list.

So glad Pinker finally showed up here

Trudeau's carbon tax is facing fierce criticism. I hope the majority of us see the bigger picture and I wish the ones who don't would stop being so selfish. This is our descendants we're looking out for. A carbon tax is the only way to shake people into seeing what's going on.

Brilliant, deft work by Bill who eviscerates Pinker swiftly and thoroughly with his two points: nukes and pollution - all the while leaving Pinker to think it was a friendly interview. Among Bill's best interviews.

if Bill could only shut up for a second and let the expert talk...love Pinker!

People want to hear him talk he should go on Rogan. This is an entertainment show. I like Bill butting in on talking heads. It's hilarious.

Bring on an optimist, don’t let him speak. Come on Bill!!!! Assuming the vast majority of your viewers are not going to read Pinker’s book, you should actually let him be speak for more than 15 second increments.

The problem is that carbon dioxide (not carbon) (CO2 v. C) is not a molecule that heats up the planet once and then says my job is done. CO2 can last for up to 800 before it eventually ends up breaking up into carbon and O2. When we put CO2 in the atmosphere it is like hiring a robotic worker to heat the planet up and this robot will work 24 hours a day until retirement in 600-800 years. So even if we completely stopped emitting CO2 right now, 100 percent completely, all the robots out there would be heating the planet up for still hundreds of years. So, a carbon tax (which should be called a carbon dioxide tax because a carbon tax is just plane stupid because everything around us is made up of carbon), would not change a damn thing for hundreds of years. See all those fires in California that are being caused by global warming? Yep, those fires are putting more carbon dioxide in the air, just more factory workers to heat up the planet. And these growing amount of fires will keep adding more workers for hundreds of years even if we stopped emitting C02 today. So what can we do? We need to find solutions to take CO2 out of the atmosphere, and there are great ideas. But the one thing that really works well (trees), is being destroyed. Deforestation keeps happening at an alarming rate, and no one is crying about that. Yet stopping deforestation is one step that will work. This stupid "carbon" tax is a lame duck.

I like it when the professor called Bill's stupid list a "cheap trick". Shiiiiiittt, "A Cheap Trick" could be the tagline for Real Time. I know it is a pop novel, but Michael Crichton's State of Fear deals with the nonsense of the media making mountains out of molehills.

Every time I see Pinker I just immediately picture him as an older Allen Kurzweil.

Oh, now that was hell of an interview...hey ?

Many many improvements without a doubt. At the same time there are so many interconnected dependencies across the world now with food, trade, resources and power supplies that things seem more fragile at the same time. Any problem can have a massive ripple effect.

Gorgeous head of hair. What I wouldn't give to have hair that full and healthy looking, clean and attractive!

serenity now !

Pinker is amazing .... read his books

Dude has a haircut like he's from the actual Great Enlightenment 😂😂

I’m so happy Bill said what he said at 5:24

"What? Me worry?"

Worst thing in the world... MONEY! Carbon tax is not a solution... IT'S A TAX!!! It won't stop Corporations from polluting, they will simply pay more to keep polluting and foot the bill to their customers. Economy 101. Bill.. Let people talk for fuck sake... You have your own monologue right?

EXACTLY! That's why there are too many people.

Bill why do you even invite Mr Pinker ? You just should put his picture on a table and go on with your monologue. Shame you did not let him speak.

Ooh .... Pinker's a new Dr. Pangloss. I agree with Bill.

I wish they showed the part where he shuts down D.L. Hugley with facts and reason.

I dispute the poverty statistics. Subsistence level living is not worse than earning extremely low wages in a sweatshop. While you may not have cash with subsistence level living, where most poor people were farmers in the developing world, they had enough food for themselves and their families and owned their land and working for low wages under unsafe and poor work conditions in a factory can often mean food insecurity. More people are living with food insecurity now. Globalization has led to subsistence farmers being removed from their land, through land capture by corrupt governments that cede to multi-national corporations.

A must read book for those that want to become well informed about the real world, supported by statistics, as oppossed to those who believe that fiction should be the guiding light instead of science and common sense.

the guy at the end lol

A problem-solving juggernaut makes a rare appearance and the time is spent by the host complaining about problems instead of LISTENING

I want to state that although yes, historically life expectancy was low, but it was mostly because of children dying, roughly one in every four children died at birth (and many did not live till the age of ten) so that significantly lowered the average. This was the case even some 130 years ago. It doesn't mean however that people died in their thirties en masse, life expectancy once you reached the age of ten was around 50-58 depending on your location. It's still is much lower than the todays average (especially in the West) but still, it has to be said.

This segment highlights the biggest problem with the format of this show. Interesting guests with interesting things to say are given very little airtime and then Bill and his guest panel talk over them, many times reiterating things they've already said with no direct bearing on the topic. This could be solved by (1)letting the guest speak, (2) A more 1:1 format for such guests (3) the guest panel could be sent the book or a briefing on it beforehand to allow for a decent discussion.

Yay

The conversation between Stephen Pinker and D.L. Hughley seems to have demonstrated the problem with the conversation between the left and the far left: a willingness to dismiss science because of emotion. We can never do that. Pinker was talking about empirical evidence for something that Hughley didn’t need to argue against in order to still have a serious legitimate grievance. It was all based on feeling and anecdote, but Pinker doesn’t fuck around with that shit. Us liberals really have to be careful not to see science as a dismissible threat. Hughley’s outrage is no less justified with the strong evidence for so many improvements in Black communities since the 70s (and all communities in several ways, as Pinker notes). That there is less ‘scot-free’ murder doesn’t make ‘scot-free’ murder less offensive. I hope Hughley has reflected on their conversation and figured that out.

Shit I'm.worried about the sand crisis now

FFS LET STEVEN SPEAK

issue fatigue is not a thing if you have a comprehensive analysis