The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

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It's main thesis of why violence has declined is not particularly persuasive though Pinker gives good evidence that it has declined. This evidence is a spellbinding tale.

This book... tome really (it's really really long) is stunningly good and so very clearly written and researched. I've been long thinking about this topic, but it took a Stephen Pinker to confirm most of my suspicions as to why violence has not only declined but dramatically declined. He then, of course, adds plentiful evidence, reasoning, numbers, and description that paints a contextually rich historical picture of where we once were, and where we are today.

I can't recommend this book enough. It's worth the time to work your way through it. Outstanding accomplishment.

There was a lot of really good information but it was just too long for me.

This book is absolutely wonderful and sheds a light of optimism on the past and future of humanity. The first chapters are devoted to arguing Mr Pinker's point with the numbers while the remaining one describe the underlining psychological reasons that support such trends. The language used is clear which makes this book very accessible even for non-specialists. The only thing that annoyed me a bit was that sometimes all the data is a bit confusing !

A must-read!

Although it took me a long time to read, (this is a very dense book, well written but full of examples of statistics) I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.
Steven Pinker proves that our world is getting less violent. This is flatly contradicted by our senses and experience every day. Any person alive now will be inundated with news of terrible violence around the world and believe that it's getting worse.
All the proof is here. Examined from all sorts of angles, with doubts and attempts to disprove thrown in, as in all good science. But the proof still stands.
It doesn't shy away from reality and includes all the atrocities and massacres but puts them into a greater context of all of humanity's history.
This is one book that truly has changed my life, and it continues to protect me from tendencies to total cynicism and pessimism.