I've just finished re-watching "Hotel Rwanda." It makes me a bit sceptical about Pinker's arguments. I don't know how much further it brings us to compare Genghis Khan with Hitler or the Thirty Years War with Rwanda and then claim, all in all, we're getting better. How much sense is there really in comparing the different circles of hell? There is progress, as Richard points out, but we still have a very long way to go.
Francis On 21 Feb., 03:47, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > I do have this tendency to throw public notables out on a bed of nails > to see which of you are inclined to take some steps across them. > Ouch! However, this is not just about curiosity but evaluation of my > views for either reinforcement or modification. > Steven Pinker, the Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of > Psychology at Harvard University has a lecture video in which he > asserts humans to be peaceful by nature and merely corrupted by modern > institutions and concluding that we are living very peaceful lives by > historical comparisons. > Pinker writes, "Now that social scientists have started to count > bodies in different historical periods, they have discovered that the > romantic theory gets it backward: Far from causing us to become more > violent, something in modernity and its cultural institutions has made > us nobler." > This approach is a combination of empirical and biological study in > contrast to former assertions formed upon human cultures and > socialization without regard to biological recognition. > Steven Pinker concludes that violence in the world has actually > decreased, and conveys this idea in his "A History of Violence" > lecturehttp://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/163 > I for one never conceived of the notion but have tossed some bones > around with my good friend gruff, who also asserts that mankind has > made significant strides in the quest for a more peaceful existence in > contrast to my view that man is as violent now as ever and desires > aggressive conflict in perpetuity. > I think Pinker's inclusion of such behaviors as cat burning in 16th > century Paris is a stretch to expand the degree of historical > violence, as is reference to human sacrifice, slavery, governmental > conquests, real estate acquisition via genocide, torture and > mutilation as routine punishment, the death penalty, assassination, > massacres, conflict resolve through killing, all of which still take > place in our time. Pinker also references Biblical examples of > genocide and stoning deaths for any number of infractions, also > attributing the same and similar torturous behaviors to historical > accounts of Hindus, Christians, Muslims, and Chinese, etc. > Pointing to a "change is sensibility" Pinker writes: "Violence has > been in decline over long stretches of history, and today we are > probably living in the most peaceful moment of our species' time on > earth." > > Somehow I can't seem to dance to the tune. > > Please take the time to view this lecture, only 19 minutes and respond > as to........... > > Truth or Wishful Thinking? > > State your Stance! --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
