Humankind's Most Peaceful Era?
http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2011-10-11/humankinds-most-peaceful-era
Today's news headlines are full of violence, war and political intrigue. But from a historical perspective, we may actually be living in the most peaceful era man has ever known. In medieval Europe the murder rate was thirty times higher than it is today. And early tribal wars were nine times deadlier than the wars, and genocides, of the 20th century. We talk with psychologist and best selling author Steven Pinker about his latest work, "The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined" (Viking).
Guests
Steven Pinker
author, "The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined" (Viking); Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
Comments
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I have a question for Dr. Pinker - Isn't mass incarceration a form of violence? Aren't we in the US incarcerating more people than ever before? And isn't mass incarceration related to persistent and oppressive representations of Black and Latino men, particularly, as "criminals" in the media (on "crime" TV shows,etc.) ? Isn't this a form of violence?? I have not read the book and apologize if Dr. Pinker does indeed address this...
I have a question for Stephen Pinker:
Prior to 1850 how do you obtain statistics on the incidence of violence and the size of the world population? Are your conclusions based on reliable science of speculation?