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Why the World is Getting More Peaceful |
Steven Pinker is the author of many major books on language and cognition. In his new book The Better Angels of Our Nature: A History of Violence and Humanity, Pinker argues that, contrary to popular belief, violence has declined and that humankind has become progressively less violent, over millenia and decades. Can this be true, though? The images of global conflict we see daily on our screens suggest this is an almost obscene claim to be making. Extraordinarily, however, Pinker shows violence within and between societies – both murder and warfare – has actually declined from prehistory to today.
Debunking both the idea of the ‘noble savage’ and an over-simplistic Hobbesian notion of a ‘nasty, brutish and short’ life, Pinker argues that modernity and its cultural institutions are actually making us better people. He ranges over everything from art to religion, international trade to individual table manners, and shows how life has changed across the centuries and around the world – not simply through the huge benefits of organised government, but also because of the extraordinary power of progressive ideas. Why has this come about? And what does it tell us about ourselves? It takes one of the world’s greatest psychologists to have the ambition and the breadth of understanding to appreciate and explain this story, to show us our very natures. Better Angels of our Nature has already generated huge debate internationally. This debate continues in this session.
Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Until 2003, he taught in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. He conducts research on language and cognition, writes for publications such as The New York Times, Time and Slate, and is the author of The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate and The Stuff of Thought, among others.
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October 6th, 2012 at 12:42 am
Imperator 03 you make two comments `If the world is gettnig so much better Mr. Kelsey, why is London one of the most cities under surveillance in the world?` A. This is NOT linked too violence I work as a Senior Police Officer (I am a Met Police Inspector) and Violence has been dropping since 1995 I know the figures as I teach this stuff to other police officers in other words it is my job to know this, it is a flawed argument as well we teach `manual handling` at work now (picking up boxes) but boxes are not more dangerious its just a change in society I really do suggest you read the book I mentioned you will find that in the past whole areas, in fact entire cities Bristol for instance were run by criminal gangs and traders feared violence so much they used a caravan system to travel from town to town with armed guards, I travel around London every weekend its peaceful, in the past everybody carrried at least a dagger look at old paintings.You also say What we do now is ignore the problem. We may not pit people in the Colosseum against one another anymore, but I would argue we do worse by ignoring the problem completely The colossuem was like the holocust for entertainment it was not like `gladiator` with warriors fighting, they were only a small part of the entertainment, much was far far more sadistic, women raped by animals people burnt alive etc, and this note by one of the BEST civilisations. The second statement you add of `but I would argue we do worse by ignoring the problem completely` compaired to WHAT are you saying the slave owning Romans were better at this ?, Pinkers argument is a COMPARATIVE one WHEN are YOU saying people were better???Plus although I note the world IS gettnig better, compaired to almost all of our recorded history, how this is happening is debateable.I do not however wish a `internet` argument with you I don`t doubt you are an intelligent and well read human being, I hope you can take these words as someone just pointing their views, and I acknowledge your points about the 20th Century still being violent, and people still commiting crime. Respectfully yours S J Kelsey (sorry about spelling Dyslexia)
October 16th, 2012 at 5:52 pm
[...] had the briefest of chances to mention this thought to Steven Pinker himself last night, after a talk at the Bristol Festival of Ideas. He laughed knowingly, and pointed me to a 3-page extract in his book, How the Mind Works, which [...]
October 16th, 2012 at 5:55 pm
[...] had the briefest of chances to mention this thought to Steven Pinker himself last night, after a talk at the Bristol Festival of Ideas. He laughed knowingly, and pointed me to a 3-page extract in his book, How the Mind Works, which [...]