Threats to Rationality and Progress: How Enlightenment Ideals Are Under Attack

We plan our lives based on the laws of logic and cause and effect.
Trust is necessary when it comes to things beyond our experience, like the origin of the universe or the cause of disease.
People tend to believe stories that make them and their tribe look good, without trusting scientific institutions.
Rationality is limited to day-to-day existence, but Enlightenment institutions allow for larger-scale understanding and progress.
Threats to rationality include authoritarian nationalism, anti-vaccine beliefs, climate change denial, and 'cancel culture'.
New technologies often enable irrational thinking until safeguards and norms are established.
Institutions like academia, scientific societies, and responsible journalism are critical for progress, but must maintain credibility and objectivity.