The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

Synopsis

"For anyone interested in human nature, the material is engrossing, and when the going gets heavy, Pinker knows how to lighten it with ironic comments and a touch of humor. . . . A supremely important book. To have command of so much research, spread across so many different fields, is a masterly achievement." [The New York Times Book Review] "My favorite book of the last decade is [Steven] Pinker's Better Angels of Our Nature. It is a long but profound look at the reduction in violence and discrimination over time." [Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft] "War appears to be as old as mankind, but peace is a modern invention." [Henry Maine, quoted in the book] "But the general decline in all kinds of violence and cruelty from ancient times to now, accelerating in the modern era, stands out as some kind of human progress. The fascinating question is: what caused or contributed to this trend? Pinker poses the question in dramatic ways, and looks for answers which he can support empirically. He comes up with five exogenous or historical forces—Centralized Government, Commerce and Trade, Greater Role for Women, Mobility and Communication/Cosmopolitanism, and Cultural Learning through Observation/Reason/Science. . . . I enjoyed the discussion of why the trends in violence started declining well before the technological and industrial revolution. Pinker gives credit to the increase in book production, the availability of all kinds of books, and the growing rates of literacy that began in the late Middle Ages." [Robert M. Brown]

RefTags

Better Angels

Released

2011

Location

Global

Setting