The Better Angels of Our Nature

Asserting that violent behavior has declined significantly in recent history, Steven Pinker offers various explanations based on data collected to explain the phenomenon in The Better Angels of Our Nature (2011),.

Pinker notes the length of his own book, arguing that its length and detail are necessary because people instinctively resist the idea that violence is declining due to various biases. These biases are fed by a previous century that was exceptionally violent (scarred by two World Wars and many other conflicts) and by news media that focuses on violent acts without offering any true context as to their frequency or relative impact. The fact is, however, that violence has declined worldwide in almost every category examined.

Pinker explores six trends in the world where violence is declining. First is the ancient and long-running transition from mobile hunter-gatherers to stationary societies based on agriculture and livestock, which naturally reduced raiding and violence aimed at acquiring resources. In the modern world, borders tend to be fixed and stable, reducing the cause for violence. Second, Pinker notes that as society has developed and the civilizing force has taken hold, homicide rates and other violence have declined remarkably. Third, the growing humanitarian movements that have targeted issues such as slavery, poverty, and hunger have also changed attitudes towards other humans and animals, reducing violence. Fourth, Pinker notes that after the end of World War II, we entered into the current period of the “long peace.” Fifth, this led directly to the end of the Cold War and what Pinker terms the “current peace.” And sixth, this era of relative peace has allowed people to concentrate on human rights and improving the lives of people everywhere, seeking equality and compassion.



Pinker then explores the reasons why human beings exhibit violent behavior in the first place. He describes the “five inner demons” of violence, beginning with “practical” violence, which is the means to an end. Biologically all living things are “survival machines” designed to defend themselves and perpetuate their genetic code; evolution has honed these tendencies. Humans are not the only living beings that use violence to secure their offspring and necessary resources. Pinker notes that in humans the most violent portion of their existence is usually their toddler years when children tend to lash out with kicks, bites, and other aggressions that lessen over time. While most humans suppress their violent urges, as they live in a society, we can see the evidence of the pleasure we derive from aggressive behaviors in sports, video games, and depictions of violence in films. Pinker concludes that just as natural instincts and evolutionary forces inspire violent tendencies, so, too, do they inspire the checks that hold those tendencies back. After all, attacking one’s own gene pool would be counter-productive, so there must be a natural resistance to being violent towards one’s own. Evolution tends to screen out organisms that are constantly violent and destructive, resulting in an increasingly moderate group of beings.

Second, violence is often used to establish dominance, but once that dominance is established for a particular species, a hierarchy is imposed. For example, in primitive times, the more violent a man was, the more powerful he would be, lending him a higher status; but he would also then seek to suppress the violence of others. As human society developed from hunter-gatherer tribes to agricultural societies, women began seeking not the most aggressive men, but the most reliable men, thus, violence became less constant and more a tool.

The third reason for violent behavior is revenge, which Pinker argues probably evolved as a discouragement for violent behavior, as knowing one’s victims would seek revenge would make even the most aggressive person hesitate. Fourth, some people commit violence out of sadism, enjoying the experience of making others suffer. Pinker asserts this is a learned behavior and not very common. Fifth, while violence is used to enforce ideologies, this is balanced by the drives we have for love and peace.



Pinker delves into the ‛”our better angels”: empathy, self-control, moral sense, and reason. These growing faculties, given the space and resources to grow and develop in the current era of peace, though with seeds that go back centuries, are largely why violence is in decline; Pinker sees no real evidence that there is a biological reason for this decline, strongly believing it is due to the evolving mental and emotional reactions of humanity.

Pinker concludes that the myth of increased violence is driven by political actors who wish to leverage fear and by warped statistics that offer an unreal view of the modern world. He states unequivocally that we are witnessing the least violence of any point in history.