The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity Toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom, by Michael Shermer, New York, Henry Holt & Co., 2015.
The Notes, Bibliography, acknowledgments and Index occupy 100 pages of this readable and analytical review of human history and why understanding how things (like us) have given us the gift of freedom from ancient superstitions and unreliable historical assumptions. The author reviews our progress in instituting freedom and rights for women, gays and animals. He doesn’t mince words when he looks at religious issues, unresolved moral issues, our cognitive dissonance, technology and income inequality.

The author’s list of related reading is worth the price of the book, as is his warning that “…our brains operate as if we are still living in [a] zero-sum land economics.” He suggests that the psychology of “those in advantageous positions of power” is affected so that it alters the way they interact with people with income inequality.

In the end, Shermer gives some hope that we can overcome such failures of entitlement or superiority. He quotes Martin Luther that “…we, as a people, will get to the promised land.” Shermer urges us to follow our better nature, stay informed, open to growth and realistic about our mistakes/ We can “follow our higher self.”. Morality is something that carbon atoms can embody, given a billion years of evolution’s moral arc.