Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters review — Steven Pinker’s war on conspiracy theories

The Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker is the high priest of rationalism. His 2018 book, Enlightenment Now, argued that liberal, rational, humanist values have made the world a better place. Bill Gates called it his “new favorite book of all time”. The same Whiggish, technocratic optimism was the force behind Pinker’s 2011 book, The Better Angels of Our Nature, which controversially claimed that violence and war are in a long decline.

Surprisingly, perhaps, for someone who used to write sparkling books on language and the mind, Pinker has also become a player in the culture wars. The subject of this book might seem innocent — a worthy attempt to rein in the madness of the post-truth era. Some, though, will perceive it as a

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