SDF

Steven Pinker with Joong-Hwan Jeon

A History of Violence : The Rise of the Better Angels of Our Nature

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 Steven Pinker illustrates 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. How has this happened? Pinker explores 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. This session, joined by evolutionary psychologist Jeon Joonghwan, will challenge and change the way we think about our society.