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Decline of Violence from Biblical Times ...

Steven Pinker charts the decline of violence from Biblical times to the present, and argues that, though it may seem illogical and even obscene, given Iraq and Darfur, we are living in the most peaceful time in our species` existence.

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15 Comments

Current View: 15 / Show all Comments

draser : LVL 39: VP 4.7: said:

draser

Hidden (Show Comment) -34 votes

109 days 6 hours ago...

This is a pro-libertarian form of government. I still believe in libertarian-socialism, but C`est la vie.

Tada : LVL 44: VP 5: said:

Tada

17 votes NegativePositive

109 days 4 hours ago...

^What are you talking about?

Also 5/5 for TED.

sato : LVL 30: VP 3.9: said:

sato

9 votes NegativePositive

109 days 1 hour ago...

wow this guy would be seriously difficult to rebut! he`s clearly done his homework, mountains of evidence and logical reasons for it. great to listen to such a clear thinker.

rawrimadinosaur : LVL 39: VP 4.7: said:

rawrimadinosaur

8 votes NegativePositive

108 days 20 hours ago...

pretty good talk,i thought it was interesting

thinkbolt : LVL 35: VP 4.3: said:

thinkbolt

0 votes NegativePositive

108 days 5 hours ago...

draser: "libertarian-socialism??"

noone : LVL 33: VP 4.2: said:

noone

-4 votes NegativePositive

108 days ago...

Why didnt he present the african nations, Whos death rates are rising faster than ever before due to weapons sold to them by euro country`s IE england usa so on. All arguments can be shown to lean one way or the other, due to evidence presented, which is generally "NOT MY OWN" type of evidence but third party.

theend81 : LVL 38: VP 4.6: said:

theend81

14 votes NegativePositive

107 days 23 hours ago...

he didn`t present anything on a lot of people... what is going on in the African nations has been going on for centuries. How do you think europeans got black slaves? They were sold to us by warring nations. You just see it more now thanks to reporters etc.

Nose Nuggets : LVL 14: VP 2.3: said:

Nose Nuggets

5 votes NegativePositive

107 days 22 hours ago...

I think his point about media is spot on. we just have the ability to report so much better, with audio and video its just more on the mind.

very interesting.

Enigma90 : LVL 24: VP 3.3: said:

Enigma90

2 votes NegativePositive

107 days 21 hours ago...

I think it has to do with competition, hunter gathers killed over berries meat etc. in present we compete over... a job, education... its just not as worth killing for because food is easy to get now.
-When back then food was crucial and one would kill another if it meant saving your own.

and wow the burning cat thing is fucked up.

napalm4sd : LVL 30: VP 3.9: said:

napalm4sd

Hidden (Show Comment) -20 votes

107 days 21 hours ago...

Fifty years ago, the US dropped the worlds most powerful weapon on a country, wiping out hundreds of thousands instantly... Add those casualties to those in the European and Japanese campaigns, and those of the Japo Chinese conflict. And I am sure that adds up to MORE people even in existance in biblical times. That was only a fifty year span, what about all of the wars and conflicts leading up to now? Somehow I don`t think this guy is very accurate.

c0mputar : LVL 13: VP 2.2: said:

c0mputar

20 votes NegativePositive

107 days 15 hours ago...

^ Somehow you don`t understand the concept of percentages and rates.

Farkeld : LVL 34: VP 4.2: said:

Farkeld

7 votes NegativePositive

107 days 14 hours ago...

^^^^^ World War II Casualties = 61-77 million
Estimates of # of People who have ever lived = 45-110 billion

These are estimates drawn from a two minute google search. Want to rethink your stance?

This was an awesome and interesting video 5/5!!

Konamix : LVL 23: VP 3.2: said:

Konamix

1 votes NegativePositive

107 days 10 hours ago...

Holy crap this guy is awesome. Top notch speech, very very interesting.
5/5 as well. These TED videos are always worth watching.

DoctorRandomercam : LVL 41: VP 4.9: said:

DoctorRandomercam

3 votes NegativePositive

106 days 23 hours ago...

Good topic. The answer seems so simple though. We`re getting smarter and smarter so we realize when stupid things are stupid. And violence is inherently and obviously stupid.

Plus, evolution has a lot to do with it. Those of us who are good at fighting may be less likely to die, but even less likely to die are those who can avoid the fight altogether. Like Thunderf00t explained in his discussion with Ray Uncomfortable. If a species sees more murders than births, it cannot sustain itself, so we don`t murder. In fact we can`t murder. The way we frame that morality is immaterial, we are that way because we have to have been that way in order to be here in the first place. Similarly, a species that only gets more violent will inevitably reach self-extinction, long before it develops anything resembling civilization.

eiSH : LVL 32: VP 4.1: said:

eiSH

2 votes NegativePositive

106 days 23 hours ago...

Farkeld, napalm4sd is saying that the casualties in WW2 alone is more than the amount of total people of biblical times which is around 50 million (Moses).

--------------
With that said, I think you guys give TED way too much credit. There are some really good presentations, but just because it`s TED doesn`t mean you have to automatically back it. Check out the list of documented wars on wikipedia. There were more documented wars in 1500-present than there were from 2500-1500. (Though we can`t compare % deaths.)

With the development of mass destruction weapons do you really feel we`ve come away from the hunter-gatherer situation of "I don`t want to shoot him, but he might shoot me first" the speaker mentioned in his own presentation? Isn`t that the reason why we broke into Iraq`s house and shot him first? o.O;

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