Steven Pinker: The Better Angels of our Nature

Are we moving increasingly closer towards a benevolent society?
Steven Pinker talks about his latest work, 'The Better Angels of our Nature' at the Royal Institution in November 2011. Introduced by Evan Davis.
The book of the same name can be purchased on Amazon - geni.us/PG10
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[@larsthorwald3338]

Thank you , Dr Pangloss.

[@user-vq5xd5bh4v]

I am happy to listen to the great lecture on "the better angel of our nature" by steven pinker. His brilliant and bright words inspire my mind all the time I listen and rid of negative feelings and beliefs stopping me do good and necessary things I want. Thanks professor Steven Pinker.

[@TheFuzzician]

Skip Intro 03:25

[@VolvoCommand]

Intro was pretty good and short tbh

[@kove]

Added his book to my reading list.

[@ingenuity168]

Thank you! 🎀

[@ronpeters5947]

Good talk - many important statistics cited. Can't say I agree with it all. See also Sapolsky's "Behave" for a number of arguments against Pinker's case.

[@jfong85]

great talk!

[@lsbrother]

starts at 3:26

[@Miranox2]

Watch the video again and pay attention to what Pinker actually said.

[@_starter]

Why did he call it a depressing time at 3:15 ????? What was happening in November 2011, financial crisis? Really

[@sacredweeds]

Just what I was thinking with a rethink for 2020

[@7thSenpai]

Oh right hes the dragons den guy

[@VolvoCommand]

He said “begs the question” in place of “raises the question”. Begs the question is a logical fallacy with a different definition. I think we can officially say that this phrase has taken a second meaning. It’s often used this way, so I guess there’s no use calling it a mistake anymore.

[@terrymcmaster2787]

The world agrees

[@matiak3111]

In a weird way, he looks like Steven Tyler.

[@matthewtroxel4839]

Kool

[@bikermiker55]

As I suspected science and reason is a force for peace. Conversely superstition, belief and ideology are common causes of violence. Recommend reading the book if you doubt Pinker's hypothesis.

[@jonnymahony9402]

Mick Burns read some critiques of pinker, just like a scientist would.

[@davidwilkie9551]

The Animal Husbandry practices have become more efficient, but the culture is still volitile?

[@kennethdodge919]

I thought it was a good presentation especially for a mostly statistical format....and I would add that watching 10 news stories about the same violent event does not make it 10 violent events even though it might seem like it..........

[@annomaly751]

Good point

[@frankmolnar2459]

The better angels of our nature are in a forever battle against the better devils of our nature and will continue to be so until the end of time no matter how much you color the graphs or the facts. One door opens another door closes. He who sees the open door is an optimist. He who sees the closed door is a pessimist. We see what we want to see. Progress is an illusion.

[@justanothernick3984]

2012 as a rather depressing time? (Presenters interpretation) This was in the recovery of the market crash, the wars were pretty subtle, this was also before the Trump-era with MeToo, the more radical climate activist movements, trans-discussions, BLM, the C-virus and the current Ukraine conflict (post-Trump era)... But we had the internet and the social media era was in it's early (and not polluted by the toxicity we see today) stage. The world had a good role model in a sophisticated leader in Obama. Yes, there were protests and movements then too, Occupy Wall Street and the TEA party but all things considered, we in the west, had a stable time in 2012. Maybe the world did end around this time, like the Mayans predicted?

[@KrwiomoczBogurodzicy]

54:17

Merhaba Özyeğin Üniversitesi SOC öğrencileri.

[@dadoof2203]

Line Go Up: The Movie

[@slinkymalinki1001]

Factory farming?

[@martianastronaut101]

41:49 Utopian ideas

[@ryfree]

'Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other. It undergoes continual changes; it is barbarous, it is civilized, it is Christianized, it is rich, it is scientific; but this change is not amelioration. For every thing that is given, something is taken. Society acquires new arts, and loses old instincts.' - Ralph Waldo Emerson

[@frankmolnar2459]

Thank you.

[@06mustangCE]

48:05 He speaks of the Monkeysphere!!!

[@twiggy120]

I love his hair, some mix of mullet and afro, but made sexy by it's silver lining and the content of his brain.

[@YoOnurMuscle]

OGUSCAKE

[@sufyan9240]

.

[@Artifactorfiction]

Facts highlight the weakness of common sense again

[@HiTechKeema]

Oqhobabo

[@allonewordy]

How are "prehistoric skeletons [that] have signs of violent trauma" relevant for a y axis labelled "percentage of deaths in warfare"? Is everyone that dies of a violent trauma a victim of war? What about domestic violence, personal territory disputes etc? Lost me in under 6 minutes, poor reasoning.

[@tdsdave]

"dominance..... drive to be alpha male"....only male ?

[@graemelaubach3106]

Ya basic

[@lsbrother]

just you I guess - but I can't be sure - do you have very big feet?

[@renzocoppola4664]

What about if there's the risk of nuclear war, then it could jump to 100%.

[@sohangchopra6478]

If one country uses nuclear weapons on other country, it is highly likely that they themselves will face the aftermath soon after. This is because even using a small amount of nuclear weapons usage can destroy ALL human life in its aftermath. So nuclear weapons actually act as deterrents for war, because no country will attack a country having nuclear weapons.

[@KeymoEmbryoSagan]

I find the audience's random laughter more disturbing than the acts of cruelty being described at certain times in human history

[@possumface2425]

O dear those poor north americans prove Pinker wrong. Guns , fear, religious sharmans, Ayn Rand, racism. A rather large zone of anarchy.

[@nurlatifahmohdnor8939]

Fork = gar-fu Spoon = su-du

[@Dr_Oleg_Kulikov]

NWO propaganda