Merton, Robert, xvii–xviii
methane (natural gas), 136, 143, 147, 183
methodological naturalism, 421–2
Mexican-American War (1946–48), 163
Mexico
agriculture in, 76
homicide rates in, 169,
literacy in,
Mexican Revolution, 199
social spending in, 109
Trump and immigration from, 336
women’s rights in, 222
Meyer, Bruce, 116
microwave ovens,
Midas, King, 299
Middle Ages
accidental death rates in, 180–81
belief in external forces, 9–10
cost of artificial light in, 253,
homicide in, 43, 168
poverty and, 79–80
private militias as ubiquitous in, 197
racism and slavery of, 397
middle class
globalization and effects on, 112, 113, 118–19, 339, 340
worldwide increase of, 86, 459–60n18
Middle East and North Africa
carbon emissions of,
communist governments in, 200
education in, 236–7,
emancipative values in, 227–8,
imperialist interventions in, 439
literacy and, 236
refugees from, and European populism, 338
Milanović, Branko, 104–5, 111, 112, 113
military governments, 200
military spending, 162, 467n18
Millennials, 225
depression and, 476n74
digital technology and, 244
happiness and, 273
as increasingly liberal, 217
low voter turnout in Trump’s election, 343
secularization and, 437
suicide and, 280
well-being of, 283
Miller, George, 314
Mill, John Stuart, 373, 417
Milošević, Slobodan, 447
mind-body dualism, 3, 22, 422, 427
mining safety and working conditions, 185, 230
minority rights, populist disregard for, 333, 340
misanthropy
of cultural criticism, 34, 247, 446
of traditional environmentalism, 122, 134, 154
Mishima, Yukio, 446
Missouri, capital punishment in, 211
mobile phones/smartphones, 94–5, 257, 331
Mokyr, Joel, 82–3, 332
Molière, 411
Monbiot, George, 264
Mongolia,
Monitoring the Future (youth survey), 185
monotonicity, 44
Montefiore, Hugh, 465n76
Montesquieu, 8, 10, 12, 13, 223
Mooney, Chris, 387
Moore, Patrick, 465n76
Moore’s Law, 46, 298, 330
morality
as balancing desires conflicting with others’, 414
basis of, 412–15, 419
capital punishment abolition and, 211–12, 213
deontological, 416–18
evolution as selecting for, 415
humanism and, 395, 410
impartiality and, 412–13, 415
progress in, as cumulative, 327
relativists vs. realists, 429–30
and safety regulations, 190
social contracts against harm, 27–8
sympathy and, 415
utilitarian, 415–19
and violence, vulnerability to, 414–15
moral sense
abstract reasoning and honing of, 243
deficits in, 26, 140
root-causism and, 169–70
sacrifice and, 140–41
Morgenthau, Hans, 309
Morrison, Philip, 308
Morton, Oliver, 154
Moss, Jonathan, 402
Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 178
motor vehicles
accident deaths, 42, 176–8,
deaths in, vs. terrorist deaths,
decline in demand for, 135
drunk driving, 178
robotic cars, 180
safety, development of, 177–8, 190
Moynihan, Daniel Patrick, 200
Mozambique, escape from poverty of,
Mozgovoi, Aleksandr, 479n93
Mueller, John, 205–6, 263, 305, 310–311, 313
Mugabe, Robert, 91
Mukherjee, Bharati, 284
Muller, Richard, 313
multiethnic communities, 405, 448, 450
multiverse theory, 424–5
Munroe, Randall, 127,
music, 260, 407
Musk, Elon, 296
Muslim countries
atheists in, 435
cohorts, 442, 491n106
cruel punishments in, 439, 440
emancipative values weakest in, 223, 227–8,
female genital mutilation in, 439
fertility decreasing in, 126, 436
homosexuality as crime in, 223, 439, 440
“honor killings” of women in, 439
and humanism, lack of progress in, 439–42
humanistic revolution in, 442–3, 491n106
human rights violations and, 439
separation of mosque and state, 441
theocracies and, 201
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 418–19
women’s rights in, 222, 439, 442, 491n106
Muslims
conspiracy theories and, 67, 336
hate crimes targeting, 219–20,
literal readings of Quran, 440, 490n96
percentage of world population, 436
sharia law and, 440, 490n96
as strongly religious, 440
Trump and immigration of, 336
Mussolini, Benito, 445, 446, 447, 491n118
Mutar, Faisal Saeed Al-, 442
Myanmar (Burma), 203, 419
Myhrvold, Nathan, 477n20
Naam, Ramez, 298, 477n20
Nabokov, Vladimir, 261
Nader, Ralph, 177
Nagel, Thomas, 351–2, 412, 413, 427, 429, 482n4, 488n43
Nalin, David, 64
Namazie, Maryam, 443
Namibia, 203
NASA, 295, 300
Nasr, Amir Ahmad, 443
Nasrin, Taslima, 443
nationalism
as counter-Enlightenment value, 30–31, 448
political ideologies and, 31
romantic nationalism, 165–6, 447, 448, 449–51
Russian, 159
vs. social contract, 31
National Science Foundation, 356–7, 387
nation-states
cyber-sabotage accomplished by, 304
as putative units of group selection, 31, 448, 450
romantic nationalism, 165, 447, 448, 449–51
tribalism and, 450
natural disaster deaths, 187–9,
destruction of civilizations, 295–6
extinction of human species, 294–5
natural gas (methane), 136, 143, 147, 183
naturalism, 392, 421–2, 486n17
