My conversation with Steven Pinker:
"To discover to the world something which deeply concerns it, and of which it was previously ignorant; to prove to it that it had been mistaken on some vital point of temporal or spiritual interest, is as important a service as a human being can render to his fellow creatures..." John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty"
Monday, October 24, 2011
Violence really is diminishing
The seemingly endless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, might make us believe we live in the most violent age ever. But Steven Pinker, Professor of Psychology at Harvard, explains that just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing for millennia and continues to diminish, even in our modern times. In The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined he looks at human nature, psychology, and history to explain how this has happened.
My conversation with Steven Pinker:
My conversation with Steven Pinker: