Summary of Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature

By IRB Media

Get the Summary of Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature argues that violence has been decreasing over most of human history. People have innate tendencies towards violence, but they also have innate tendencies towards peace. Historical developments, especially the consolidation of state power and the Enlightenment, have allowed humans to move away from violence, murder, and war, and move towards more peaceful ways of living.

The Better Angels of Our Nature is a daring, provocative, and important book. As Pinker himself notes, journalists and pundits generally argue that the world is getting worse and that we live in uniquely dangerous or violent times. The September 11th attacks, the threat of terrorism, and the ongoing wars in the Middle East are presented as evidence of increasing violence, chaos, and instability. Pessimism is seen as realism, and policymakers declare that unprecedented effort is required to avert crises.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Feb 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781638152293

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Summary

of

Steven Pinker’s

The Better Angels

of Our Nature

Why Violence Has Declined

Table of Contents

Overview

Key Insights

Key Insight 1

Key Insight 2

Key Insight 3

Key Insight 4

Key Insight 5

Key Insight 6

Key Insight 7

Key Insight 8

Key Insight 9

Important People

Author’s Style

Author’s Perspective

Overview

Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2012), is a robust tour of progress in human civilization across several centuries. Despite commonly held perceptions, influenced by a news media which incessantly dwells on the worst aspects of society, humanity has become less, not more violent over time. When people look beyond historical narratives constructed by selective historians, and instead rely on the best available statistics to inform an understanding of violence in human society, this trend becomes self-evident.

The decline in violence has been especially pronounced in the years following the Second World War. Since that particularly deadly conflict, the rate of interstate wars, that is, wars between countries, reached a historic low after remaining a near-constant reality of life in all recorded human history. The risk of a war between great powers, also common centuries ago, has diminished to the point of