Humanity becoming...LESS violent? WTF??

According to Steven Pinker, yes we are.

Interesting thought. Agree/disagree/don't care?

Isn't this... common sense? Doesn't surprise me at all.

I have to agree. This is a surprise? To who? Really, it's quite obvious. You just have to ignore the clueless, braying, pointless cynics.

I'd imagine the only way this would be a surprise was if you were swayed by sensationalist news outlets.

With the cost of violence going drastically up and the viability of other options improving, I think this will continue to hold true.

I'm wondering if the lethality of technology is also a factor. Back when your options were a pointy stick, less people died from one person with murderous intent. Nowadays, it's much easier to personally kill large populations with an AK/a mustard gas attack/a Predator drone/a nuke/etc. Must factor into people's thoughts.

That's what I meant by "cost of violence". Also, the likelihood that if you hit someone with a bomb, they're quite likely to bomb you back. Why else would we be working toward deterring the use of nuclear weapons? Because everyone is fucked, even you.

IMO, violence has gone down, fear of violence has gone up. Maybe that as well as the Nostalgia Filter, more reporting of violent acts than before (whereas it used to be ignored) and weapons that can kill many more people in one go creates the perception of greater violence.

Mass media is definitely an issue. We're more aware of violence than we have been in the past, because we can see it happening from further away.

Don't believe it for a second. The global police state is becoming even more effective in its use of violence. Soon force will be the preserve only of criminals and the state. They want fearful yet docile, obedient, enfeebled masses unable to respond in any way but meek submission to the will of the elite. Ideal citizens will not even be capable of contemplating violence.

edited 28th Sep '11 10:49:45 AM by Shichibukai

Overall affluence, market power, and global reach have all increased. You have less incentive to go around making violent land grabs, can get what you want from said land nonviolently, and being too much of an overt asshole to them will get hammers dropped on your head by half the frigging world within thousands of miles.

That's a rather weak assessment, Shichi. I assume you mean America, and for all the complaints about it we don't actually have the resources to be a global police state, and increasingly less interest in it.

Part of the issue is that this isn't an even process. Violence is getting scaled back more in some regions than others (and there are some areas like Mexico, where it's pretty clearly increasing).

This makes it relatively seem like violence is becoming more concentrated. In turn, that makes it easier for people to cite anecdotal evidence that may or may not be indicative of the big picture.

I would also suspect that it may have something to do with the fact that there are more non-violent ways now to screw with someone than there used to be. Used to be that there wasn't much you could do except punch him in the face if you wanted to hurt someone. Now you can do all sorts of things to him and cause untold amounts of grief without ever laying a finger on him.

I would agree but most people don't like my statistical analysis of violence. Back in the pointy stick days, you did less damage per person, but large swathes of human populations could be wiped out by violence very easily. These days, full blown wars become global disasters with just a small percentage of the local population killed.

I've been saying this for a while. Even with two world wars and a number of high-volume genocides, the 20th Century is the least murderous one on record, percentage-wise. And when you consider that those wars and genocides were the projects of a relatively small handful of people who happened to possess both violent intentions and the political and technological power to carry them out, it becomes evident that the average person is even less inclined to violence than the numbers indicate.

We're doing okay, humans. Let's keep it up.

We could be doing better.

It's pretty hard to say if "humanity" is becoming less violent, imho—Humanity itself is a very broad term, and in comparison to what? The regional variation is pretty intense. When I first read the OP's topic I thought "of course it is!" but the more I think of it, the more doubtful I am, really.

There is a lot of modern day slavery and exploitation and murder which gets swept under the rug or dressed up in other terms. But I'd have to read his actual studies to get a better feel of it.

Humanity fuels its violent efforts into video games now.

I think it has more to do with how large humanity is.

Part of the recent plummet could be attributed to the rise of missiles: War just ain't fun anymore.

edited 28th Sep '11 1:36:29 PM by SavageHeathen

Hmm, I wouldn't say humanity is becoming less violent, it's jsut that... well... now days, using violence rarely get's you what you want. There is also a fact that pretty much anyone who you against can and will return the favor in equal force. Thus, violence has gone down. Humans aren't stupid, if we can get something by not endangering ourserselves, we (generally) pick that option.

We're less violent, but that just makes the violence still done stand out all the more...

@Mandemo: That's one reason but not the only reason.

EDIT: In fact, at least one reason we are actually less violent is that we broadcast news of violence better, making us think that we are more violent than we are.

edited 28th Sep '11 1:54:15 PM by BlackHumor

This is actually pretty much common sense. Hasn't this been a trend for literally decades now? Since just after WWII if I'm remembering right.

I would really like to believe this isn't serious.