Reference no: EM133404855

Questions: So far you have read most of the debate. At this point, who do you think has done a better job of persuading you? Pinker and Ridley or de Botton and Gladwell?

1. Gladwell and de Botton have spoke to me more throughout the book than Pinker and Ridley. de Botton and Gladwell argued that progress may not necessarily lead to greater happiness, they come from a more realistic standpoint. A great example is when Ridley talked about all the great benefits of the world being connected but never really mentioned the negative effects. After the recent pandemic I kind of get the stand point of how things like world trading and easier travel could affect us in a negative way. I would like to think that humankind's best days lie ahead in a health and technological sense but there will always be a "pandemic" we will have to overcome.

2. Pinker and Ridley's arguments seem far more convincing to me. They tend to be based on facts and value the data very highly. de Botton and Gladwell seem to be bringing up many arguments against the opposing points, but they tend to be unsubstantiated. de Botton in particular seems to really enjoy shifting the argument towards some unrelated point. He then accuses Pinker and Ridley of moving the goalpost when they don't entertain his "gotcha" moment that came completely out of left field and proves nothing. This is really hurting his credibility in my eyes.