Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think we live in the most violent age ever seen. Yet as New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing for millennia and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species's existence. For most of history, war, slavery, infanticide, child abuse, assassinations, pogroms, gruesome punishments, deadly quarrels, and genocide were ordinary features of life. But today, Pinker shows (with the help of more than a hundred graphs and maps) all these forms of violence have dwindled and are widely condemned. How has this happened? This groundbreaking book continues Pinker's exploration of the essence of human nature, mixing psychology and history to provide a remarkable picture of an increasingly nonviolent world. The key, he explains, is to understand our intrinsic motives- the inner demons that incline us toward violence and the better angels that steer us away-and how changing circumstances have allowed our better angels to prevail. Exploding fatalist myths about humankind's inherent violence and the curse of modernity, this ambitious and provocative book is sure to be hotly debated in living rooms and the Pentagon alike, and will challenge and change the way we think about our society.
The Better Angels of Our Nature - Why Violence Has Declined
Steven Pinker
VIKING ADULT
2011
832 páginas
1d 3h 44m
ISBN-1: 0
Estatísticas
Avaliações
4.7 / 13- 5 estrelas85%
- 4 estrelas8%
- 3 estrelas0%
- 2 estrelas8%
- 1 estrelas0%
Steven Arthur Pinker
Steven Pinker é um psicólogo e linguista canadense da Universidade de Harvard e escritor de livros de divulgação científica. Durante 21 anos foi professor no Departamento do Cérebro e Ciências Cognitivas do Massachusetts Institute of Technology antes de regressar a Harvard em 2003. Pinker completou o bacharelado em Psicologia na Universidade McGill, em 1976, e doutorado em Psicologia Experimental na Universidade de Harvard, em 1979. Pinker escreve sobre a linguagem e as ciências cognitivas em vários níveis, desde artigos especializados até publicações de divulgação científica. Ele é mais bem conhecido pela sua pesquisa da aquisição da fala e pelo seu trabalho sobre as noções de desenvolvimento inato da linguagem avançadas por Noam Chomsky. No entanto, diferente de Chomsky, Pinker considera a linguagem como uma adaptação evolutiva.
13 Livros
106 Seguidores