A review of The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker
I
recently finished reading The
Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven
Pinker, after hearing Bill Gates recommend it on the Ezra Klein Show.* This book argues that one
of the strongest and most important trends throughout human history is a massive
decline in violence. Pinker compiles a large number of studies to argue that
this trend actually exists and then turns to psychology, sociology,
and evolutionary biology to better understand it.
Pinker
is Harvard Professor in the Department of Psychology, and a brief look at his
bio shows that his work reaches across fields. His book is no way an argument
that there are no injustices left or that humanity has achieved some mission to
remove violence. Instead, he is coming at this topic as a social scientist with
an eye towards history. He observed a phenomenon, one that he argues is
frequently overlooked, and tries to explain it.
