作者简介

Steven Pinker is one of the world's leading authorities on language and the mind. His popular and highly praised books include Words and Rules, How the Mind Works, and The Language Instinct. The recipient of several major awards for his teaching and scientific research, Pinker is Peter de Florez professor of psychology in the department of brain and cognitive sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

内容简介

Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think we live in the most violent age ever seen. Yet as New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing for millennia and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species's existence. For most of history, war, slavery, infanticide, child abuse, assassinations, pogroms, gruesome punishments, deadly quarrels, and genocide were ordinary features of life. But today, Pinker shows (with the help of more than a hundred graphs and maps) all these forms of violence have dwindled and are widely condemned. How has this happened?

This groundbreaking book continues Pinker's exploration of the essence of human nature, mixing psychology and history to provide a remarkable picture of an increasingly nonviolent world. The key, he explains, is to understand our intrinsic motives- the inner demons that incline us toward violence and the better angels that steer us away-and how changing circumstances have allowed our better angels to prevail. Exploding fatalist myths about humankind's inherent violence and the curse of modernity, this ambitious and provocative book is sure to be hotly debated in living rooms and the Pentagon alike, and will challenge and change the way we think about our society.


Steven Pinker is one of the world's leading authorities on language and the mind. His popular and highly praised books include Words and Rules, How the Mind Works, and The Language Instinct. The recipient of several major awards for his teaching and scientific research, Pinker is Peter de Florez professor of psychology in the department of brain and cognitive sciences at the Ma...

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豆瓣评论

  • 庄常飞
    如果用养分衡量图书,那么本书简直就是养分的极致,里面内容好多值得学习有木有。虽然有很多内容重复,而且Pinker的文字又是太绕和太技术流,但总体来说是一本非常好的书,彻底改变了我对Pinker的偏见。02-13
  • farrell
    花了两个多月时间啃完这本英文的大部头,感觉像是研究生修了一门哲学课。观点上其实也不稀奇,简单说就是a smarter world is a less violent world,关键是Pinker对古今各种学术观点和证据的渊博,以及论证的缜密谨严太厉害了,搁在中国这就是钱钟书量级的大学者。我读过文笔好的当代学术大明星,社会学的Steven Pinker,历史的Niall Ferguson,人类学的Jared Diamond,经济学的Paul Krugman,政治学的Francis Fukuyama,生物学的Richard Dawkins,读他们的书感觉就像吃聪明豆,学了什么已经不重要了,纯粹地长智力。03-25
  • 之如
    很长的一本书;相比后三分之一的分析,反而是前半对于暴力与战争历史的综述更引人思考。08-20
  • Tony Yet
    过去,我们问:“为什么人们会打战?”平克教授认为,现在,我们应当问:“为什么我们可以有和平?以及如何使和平得以持续下去?” 非常厚的一本书,花了好几个月才读完,启发甚大。09-17
  • 雪地里的水煮蛋
    this is by far my favorite among all of the steven pinker books, but so long. Gosh. Very rich in info though01-09

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