The Better Angels of Our Nature
A review of

The Better Angels of Our Nature

Why Violence Has Declined

Steven Pinker • Penguin • 2012

Pinker offers the following lessons and insights:

 1. Six trends delineate the history of human violence.

Six trends or changing frameworks delineate how human violence has decreased over the span of history. The first was the shift from hunter-gatherers to agricultural societies. The second shift away from violence happened during civilization’s last 500 years – from 1500 AD to the present – a time span during which homicides declined precipitously. The third shift happened in Europe during the Age of Reason, when governments first proscribed various kinds of nonstate violence.

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