Book Review: The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I came to know of this book from Bill Gates' review and he recommended this book so vehemently that i decided i will give this book a try. I did not read it but listened to the MP3 CD while commuting between home and work. The author Steven Pinker has done a very thorough research on the topic of how humanity has become more civilized during the course of history from being barbarians and savages to gradually more compassionate humans that we are today. He has put forth the findings from history based on what influenced humans to be more compassionate and less violent than we ever were in the past. Bill Gates puts it nicely and i will quote it from his review: "Many people are surprised to hear that we live in a far less violent time, because you see and read about tons of violence in the news. But Pinker argues convincingly that it’s our awareness and sensitivity to violence that have increased, not violence itself, which is way down."

Following are the changes that enabled humans to become more civilized or less violent during the course of history:
1. Agriculture - enabled humans to settle down in communities
2. Empathy for other humans increased as means of spreading ideas and knowledge increased with the advent of printing press and awareness of the lives and plights of the people in distant parts of the world increased
3. Better governance and the rule of law - countries where the governments are more stable and are able to enforce the rule of law in the society tend to have lesser violence.

The book also details how gruesome the past has been where humans came up with innovative ways to torture other humans, witch hunting practices, and other social evils like Sati-pratha in India, were prevalent. Those details are the evidence that author presents to support his argument that the time in which we live in is way less violent than the past.

This is a long book and i liked having listened to the audio book. I will like to read it now and take notes on my kindle.


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