Includes bibliographical references (pages 707-831) and index.

"Is ther world falling apart? Is progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millenium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophesies 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 worldwide. Far from being a naive hope, the Enlightenemtn we now know, has worked."