Violence is Down: The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker

Today, at the copy machine I heard a colleague whistling the Beatles' "I heard the news today, oh boy," and I just had to laugh.... I was photocopying an article about Harvard's Steven Pinker, who says the news may be bad, but violence is LESS of a problem today than it was in the past. Pinker's assertion is that fear of violence pervades our culture due to media focus on violence.  Media’s insistence on “If it bleeds, it leads” coverage gives us a biased anticipation of danger and violence in the world.  Further, Pinker’s research indicates that we CARE more and differently about violence today, and that rates of bloodshed relative to population are actually down. 

What are some of the reasons for this dramatic development over time?  Pinker cites the rule of law, travel and trade, education, and the empowerment of women, among other forces affecting the decline of violence in today’s world relative to the past.

His work will make provocative reading with students in history and math classes!

Here is the link from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Scroll down for entire 5-page article at http://articles.philly.com/2011-10-14/news/30279505_1_violence-twentieth-century-human-nature

Don’t miss this pearl at the end:
Q: Will we stop caring if we become convinced violence is overestimated?

Pinker: I think that the exact opposite is the case.

What encourages intelligent activism is the realization that some things do work.

Let's figure out what they are.