Job Discussion Forums

[Captain_Fil]

Dear John,

We truly have become better human beings.

I may still be a wienie. But I am now a big man. I remain firm.

Regards,

CF

[johnslat]

Dear Captain_Fil,

Wonderful - that's how humanity improves: one individual at a time.

Regards,
John

[Qaaolchoura]

Actually, I watched a lecture by someone other than Pinker. (Since The Language Instinct, Pinker has not contributed anything original. But he's an excellent pop science writer, and I don't think less of him for it.)

It's not that it's not in human nature to be violent, just that governments have a Hobbesian monopoly on violence, and monopolies just are never as effective as the free market. Even in WWII Europe, the per capita rate of violence was less than in small, loosely organized ("primitive") societies, such as those of the Amazon and New Guinea. The rate of male death from murder in such societies, as I recall ranges from something like 1 in 4 to 2 in 5. Of course the Holocaust killed half or Europe's Jews, but there have been documented cases among the Yanomamo where entire villages have been wiped out by other villages.

On another point: Note I said male deaths, as these deaths are mostly over women. I also seem to recall the presenter indicating indicating that sexual issues probably account for a majority of murders, though it depends on how you count them. It was an interesting lecture. I should see if I can dig him up. Or maybe get Pinker's book when I'm back stateside and flip through the footnotes.

~Q

[fluffyhamster]

More (a video interview) from the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2011/nov/07/steven-pinker-better-angels-nature-video