11/13/2022 0 Comments The story of the human body: evolution, health and disease norberg-hodge, helena![]() ![]() Generally speaking, metrics-based evaluations, while seemingly objective, bear the covert biases of those who decide what to measure, how to measure it, and what not to measure. In other words, we need to come to grips with precisely the things that Stephen Pinker's statistics leave out. For this evolution to proceed, however, it is necessary that we acknowledge and integrate the horror, the suffering, and the loss that the triumphalist narrative of civilizational progress skips over. In fact, I share the fundamental optimism of Kristof and Pinker that humanity is walking a positive evolutionary path. Unlike in 1984, the deception is not a product of phony statistics.īefore I describe the deception and what lies on the other side of it, I want to assure the reader that this essay will not try to prove that things are getting worse and worse. ![]() Like in 1984, there is something deceptive in these arguments that so baldly serve the established order. With smug assurance they tell us that thanks to reason, science, and enlightened Western political thinking, we are making strides toward a better world. Like in 1984, these articles affirm and celebrate the basic direction of society. Poverty rates are lower than ever recorded, life expectancy is higher, and more people than ever are literate, have access to electricity and running water, and live in democracies. Fewer people die in wars, car crashes, airplane crashes, even from gun violence. Those words, “our new, happy life,” came to me as I read two recent articles, one by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times and the other by Stephen Pinker in the Wall Street Journal, both of which asserted, with ample statistics, that the overall state of humanity is better now than at any time in history. The phrase in vogue is "our new, happy life." Of course, as with the chocolate ration, it is obvious that the statistics are phony. The newscaster goes on to announce one statistic after another proving that everything is getting better. All over Oceania this morning there were irrepressible spontaneous demonstrations when workers marched out of factories and offices and paraded through the streets with banners voicing their gratitude to Big Brother for the new, happy life which his wise leadership has bestowed upon us. We have won the battle for production! Returns now completed of the output of all classes of consumption goods show that the standard of living has risen by no less than 20 per cent over the past year. 'Attention, comrades! We have glorious news for you. 'Comrades!' cried an eager youthful voice. No one except for the protagonist, Winston, seems to notice that the ration has gone down not up. In George Orwell's 1984, there is a moment when the Party announces an "increase" in the chocolate ration – from thirty grams to twenty. ![]()
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