Bits of Books - Books by Title
The Better Angels
Steven Pinker
(London Times Review)
We are a violent species. Spectacles of suffering infuse the modern imagination; violence is even used to teach non-violence. In 1888, for instance, the editor of a prominent Humane Society journal sought to discourage children from abusing animals with a poem about Tom, who used to pluck off the wings of flies. In order to “give him a lesson”, Tom’s father:“Pulled his ears till he halloed Then doubled him up with his fist. And didn’t he twist on the carpet! And didn’t he cry out with pain! But whenever he cried, ‘Oh, you hurt me!’ His father would punch him again.” The message is clear: retributive violence is justified. Unfortunately, it is always possible to find an excuse – often wholly imaginary – to hurt other sentient creatures. One of the great challenges of human civilisation is to find the magical formula that will enable us to eradicate this deep-seated tendency.
Steven Pinker’s new book is an unflinching attempt to address the problem of violence. His basic argument is simple: over the course of history, violence has declined. This won’t surprise most historians (recently, Pieter Spierenburg and Robert Muchembled have published carefully argued books making the same point). But Pinker acutely notes that cognitively knowing that violence has declined does not change the fact that we feel that we live in more dangerous times. The media hypes fantasies of uncontrolled carnage; many of us misread crime statistics; and an expectation of greater civility makes its breach so much more insulting.
Pinker’s scholarship is astounding. His elucidation of concepts from cognitive psychology is flawless, although many criticise his evolutionary psychological focus. But he is just as masterful when writing about children’s fables, the Rolling Stones, Charlie Chaplin, Slaughterhouse-Five, epidemiological findings, the Tamil Tigers, animal rights, anti-rape activism and so on. Even his statistical analyses are accessible.
Pinker is also attentive to detail: this is no reductive history (not surprising, perhaps, at more than 700 pages). Yes, he argues, violence has been in decline worldwide – but not in America. The level of violence in Alabama could be from a different era.
He also strives to be even-handed. Pinker argues that some human faculties “incline us towards various kinds of violence” while others “incline us toward co-operation and peace”. The trick is to learn how to promote the latter.
Co-operation is not an automatic reflex, but a learned hermeneutics. In the end, Pinker sides with Adam Smith: within each person, there is a better angel. In Smith’s words, there is a “stronger power” than self-love, and this is “reason, principle, conscience . . . It is he who shows us the propriety of generosity and the deformity of injustice”.
Overall, Pinker’s analysis is defiantly optimistic, which may make some readers sceptical. Is it really true that “We are all feminists now”? I don’t think so. For many people in the world, violence actually has increased. Pinker would respond that we are cognitively predisposed to think the worst, and to magnify dramatic negative features of life over the everyday ordinariness of goodness. He might also point out that he is presenting the “big picture”, the broad trends. And he is. But tell that to the sans papiers immigrants. The problem is that Pinker’s definition of violence is largely drawn from legal precepts: there is a perpetrator, a cruel act, a harmful effect. Most violence today does not conform to this model. It is structural and institutional. It is about pervasive insecurity, poverty, disease and inequality. This kind of violence is powerful precisely because it has become naturalised: it is a “fact of life” that seems impossible to challenge. The increase in such forms of violence creates the free-floating anxiety that permeates modern lives.
Even according to Pinker’s definition, the human capability for extreme violence remains frighteningly high. If we broaden the definition, acknowledging that most forms of violence experienced by people today are the result of economic and ideological injustices, we can not only explain why people remain so scared, but can also suggest new ways to promote peace and co-operation.
Pinker eloquently argues against fear and wisely affirms that evidence that people can successfully work against violence is proof that “such efforts are worthwhile”. I hope he is right.
Books by Title
Books by Author
Books by Topic
Bits of Books To Impress
|