ted,steven pinker,violence TED | Steven Pinker: A brief history of violence

TED | Steven Pinker: A brief history of violence

posted by jimnms

2 years ago • 1644 views

tags: ted, steven pinker, violence

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"In a preview of his next book, Steven Pinker takes on violence. We live in violent times, an era of heightened warfare, genocide and senseless crime. Or so we've come to believe. Pinker charts a history of violence from Biblical times through the present, and says modern society has a little less to feel guilty about."

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Comments

I like how he difusses the idea of gloom and doom that the world has never been as bad as it is now, which just inst true. However he uses statistics (a math that is easily manipulated) to back himself up. Mainly the idea that hunter gathers killed more of each other 10,000 years ago than the 20th century including both World Wars, 10,000 years ago there werent even a billion people living on the planet. But if a tribe of 10 kills 7 of another tribe of 10 you can say that 70% of the entire population was slaughtered, but 7 doesnt compare to 7 million even if 7 million was nearly as high as 70% of the population.

written by 9058

| 1 year 12 months ago | CH

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Jordass, Yes, the comparison is valid... ..if there are many similar tribes spread across the globe.
You also have to remember that those high percentages came from probability of being murdered during one's lifetime, not single events. We aren't talking about scaling up a stochastic fluke.

written by grinter

| 1 year 12 months ago | CH

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The idea is that death brought about by another human was much more common and almost routine in other time periods. Everyone had a relative or two who was murdered by a neighbor or by the state.

The statistics presented are a bit scatter shot, but its a fun talk.

written by bamdrew

| 1 year 12 months ago | CH

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