The better angels of our nature: why violence has declined
Description
"We've all asked, "What is the world coming to?" But we seldom ask, "How bad was the world in the past?" In this book, the author, a cognitive scientist shows that the past was much worse; and that we may be living in the most peaceable era in our species' existence. Evidence of a bloody history has always been around us: genocides in the Old Testament, gory mutilations in Shakespeare and Grimm, monarchs who beheaded their relatives, and American founders who dueled with their rivals; the nonchalant treatment in popular culture of wife-beating, child abuse, and the extermination of native peoples. The murder rate in medieval Europe was more than thirty times what it is today. Slavery, sadistic punishments, and frivolous executions were common features of life for millennia, then were suddenly abolished. How could this have happened, if human nature has not changed? The author argues that thanks to the spread of government, literacy, trade, and cosmopolitanism, we increasingly control our impulses, empathize with others, bargain rather than plunder, debunk toxic ideologies, and deploy our powers of reason to reduce the temptations of violence."-- From publisher description.
More Details
ISBN:
9780670022953
9781101544648
9780143122012
9781101544648
9780143122012
Staff View
Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | 77608b52-ba1b-5f8e-2441-95af39c058c7 |
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Grouping Title | better angels of our nature why violence has declined |
Grouping Author | steven pinker |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2021-01-19 04:16:37AM |
Last Indexed | 2021-01-19 04:41:52AM |
Novelist Primary ISBN | 9780670022953 |
Solr Details
accelerated_reader_point_value | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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accelerated_reader_reading_level | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
author | Steven Pinker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
author_display | Pinker, Steven | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
available_at_aacpl | Online OverDrive Collection | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
detailed_location_aacpl | Online OverDrive Collection | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
display_description | "We've all asked, "What is the world coming to?" But we seldom ask, "How bad was the world in the past?" In this book, the author, a cognitive scientist shows that the past was much worse; and that we may be living in the most peaceable era in our species' existence. Evidence of a bloody history has always been around us: genocides in the Old Testament, gory mutilations in Shakespeare and Grimm, monarchs who beheaded their relatives, and American founders who dueled with their rivals; the nonchalant treatment in popular culture of wife-beating, child abuse, and the extermination of native peoples. The murder rate in medieval Europe was more than thirty times what it is today. Slavery, sadistic punishments, and frivolous executions were common features of life for millennia, then were suddenly abolished. How could this have happened, if human nature has not changed? The author argues that thanks to the spread of government, literacy, trade, and cosmopolitanism, we increasingly control our impulses, empathize with others, bargain rather than plunder, debunk toxic ideologies, and deploy our powers of reason to reduce the temptations of violence."-- From publisher description. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
format_aacpl | eBook | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
format_category_aacpl | eBook | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
id | 77608b52-ba1b-5f8e-2441-95af39c058c7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
isbn | 9780143122012 9780670022953 9781101544648 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
item_details
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last_indexed | 2021-01-19T09:41:52.52Z | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
lexile_score | -1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
literary_form | Non Fiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
literary_form_full | Non Fiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
local_callnumber_aacpl | Online OverDrive | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
owning_library_aacpl | Anne Arundel County Public Library Online | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
owning_location_aacpl | Online OverDrive Collection | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
primary_isbn | 9780670022953 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
publishDate | 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
record_details
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recordtype | grouped_work | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
scoping_details_aacpl
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subject_facet | Nonviolence -- Psychological aspects Violence -- Psychological aspects Violence -- Social aspects | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_display | The better angels of our nature : why violence has declined | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_full | The Better Angels of Our Nature Why Violence Has Declined The better angels of our nature : why violence has declined / Steven Pinker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_short | The better angels of our nature | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_sub | why violence has declined | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
topic_facet | Nonfiction Nonviolence Psychological aspects Psychology Social aspects Violence |