Thread:User talk:WaitingforGodot/Pinker's latest stinker/reply (3)

I have not read this. I've read the amazon summary and decided not to spend money on it. And I'll tell you why. I find screeds like this, on either side, to be so point driven that i think they kinda "miss the point". heh. That is, our world is not better or worse, or even tangibly more or less violent. It is what it is; attempts to compare cultures fails for every point you, ADK and I have been tossing around. One supposes you can make a claim that "there are more/less murders per 1000 people in the US - but what does that *mean*. are there more cops now?  or are people less inclined to kill when they can shoot something on tv?  Are people truly more "moral" (again, in the context of US 2010, mostly christian view of morality) than they were 100, 1000 years ago? or are times just more difficult.

He sets out (according to the book jacket info) to show the world is not "worse" but "better". But that (supposedly) factual comment has little bearing on the perception of people who feel worse off than their historical ancestors.

Ironically, i do think humans and our social structures are becoming "better", in the sense that we are more egalitarian, we work toward the greater good in our social groups -- but we are still selfish asses, too. heh. I just don't think you can "prove" we are becoming "better" in any pop-culture book, cause to me, it would simply make way too many assumptions.

i'll probably check it out at the library eventually, but i just can't stomach paying for it. :-)