The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

802 pages

English language

Published Dec. 4, 2011

ISBN:: 978-0-670-02295-3
Goodreads:: 11107244

(3 reviews)

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined is a 2011 book by Steven Pinker, in which the author argues that violence in the world has declined both in the long run and in the short run and suggests explanations as to why this has occurred. The book uses data simply documenting declining violence across time and geography. This paints a picture of massive declines in the violence of all forms, from war, to improved treatment of children. He highlights the role of nation-state monopolies on force, of commerce (making other people become more valuable alive than dead), of increased literacy and communication (promoting empathy), as well as a rise in a rational problem-solving orientation as possible causes of this decline in violence. He notes that paradoxically, our impression of violence has not tracked this decline, perhaps because of increased communication, and that further decline is not inevitable, …

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined is a 2011 book by Steven Pinker, in which the author argues that violence in the world has declined both in the long run and in the short run and suggests explanations as to why this has occurred. The book uses data simply documenting declining violence across time and geography. This paints a picture of massive declines in the violence of all forms, from war, to improved treatment of children. He highlights the role of nation-state monopolies on force, of commerce (making other people become more valuable alive than dead), of increased literacy and communication (promoting empathy), as well as a rise in a rational problem-solving orientation as possible causes of this decline in violence. He notes that paradoxically, our impression of violence has not tracked this decline, perhaps because of increased communication, and that further decline is not inevitable, but is contingent on forces harnessing our better motivations such as empathy and increases in reason.

3 editions

speljamr reviewed The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker

Review of 'The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

Life is getting less violent. Really.

The first portion of the book deals primarily with the statistics and evidence that shows how violence has declined in the course of recorded human history; and the facts do show a dramatic decline of violence over the centuries. While reviewing the statistical numbers Mr Pinker also attempts to find reasons for the declining violence, looking at many different theories that have been proposed over the years.

The two chapters prior to the final summary/conclusion discuss the psychological science behind some of the reasons for the decline in violence and how violence and non-violence are worked out in the human brain. I found this particular portion of the book the most fascinating, and I can imagine that there is much more that could be expanded upon.

This book is a rather large work and did take me some time to get through all of …

Life is getting less violent. Really.

The first portion of the book deals primarily with the statistics and evidence that shows how violence has declined in the course of recorded human history; and the facts do show a dramatic decline of violence over the centuries. While reviewing the statistical numbers Mr Pinker also attempts to find reasons for the declining violence, looking at many different theories that have been proposed over the years.

The two chapters prior to the final summary/conclusion discuss the psychological science behind some of the reasons for the decline in violence and how violence and non-violence are worked out in the human brain. I found this particular portion of the book the most fascinating, and I can imagine that there is much more that could be expanded upon.

This book is a rather large work and did take me some time to get through all of it. At times I had to set it down and read something else, coming back to it after I was ready to take on a new section. I recommend taking it in portions due to the voluminous amount of material covered. Overall this book is a well done piece of research and I highly recommend it; I would even go so far as to say that this is a must read in 2012.

One side note: do to the nature of the subject matter, some portions of the book describe things that some people may have trouble reading. There simply is no way to describe what medieval torture was like without a few graphic details; and one does need to understand exactly how gruesome it really was to understand how far we have come.

PedalHoppy

rated it

Sept. 23, 2018

Dave Reynolds

rated it

May 18, 2018