MARC Record from marc_columbia

LEADER: 02284cam a2200349 a 4500
001 9023655
005 20120220185839.0
008 110415s2011 nyuab b 001 0 eng
010 $a 2011015201
020 $a9780670022953 (hardback)
020 $a0670022950 (hardback)
024 $a99944793184
035 $a(OCoLC)ocn707969125
035 $a(OCoLC)707969125
035 $a(NNC)9023655
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dYDX$dBTCTA$dYDXCP$dUPZ$dIEB$dBUR
042 $apcc
050 00 $aHM1116$b.P57 2011
082 00 $a303.609$222
100 1 $aPinker, Steven,$d1954-
245 14 $aThe better angels of our nature :$bwhy violence has declined /$cSteven Pinker.
260 $aNew York :$bViking,$c2011.
300 $axxviii, 802 p. :$bill., maps ;$c25 cm.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
520 $aWe've all asked, "What is the world coming to?" But we seldom ask, "How bad was the world in the past?" In this startling new book, cognitive scientist Steven Pinker shows that the past was much worse. Evidence of a bloody history has always been around us: genocides in the Old Testament, gory mutilations in Shakespeare and Grimm, monarchs who beheaded their relatives, and American founders who dueled with their rivals. The murder rate in medieval Europe was more than thirty times what it is today. Slavery, sadistic punishments, and frivolous executions were common features of life for millennia, then were suddenly abolished. How could this have happened, if human nature has not changed? Pinker argues that thanks to the spread of government, literacy, trade, and cosmopolitanism, we increasingly control our impulses, empathize with others, debunk toxic ideologies, and deploy our powers of reason to reduce the temptations of violence.--From publisher description.
505 0 $aA foreign country -- The pacification process -- The civilizing process -- The humanitarian revolution -- The long peace -- The new peace -- The rights revolutions -- Inner demons -- Better angels -- On angels' wings.
650 0 $aViolence$xPsychological aspects.
650 0 $aViolence$xSocial aspects.
650 0 $aNonviolence$xPsychological aspects.
852 00 $bmil$hHM1116$i.P57 2011
852 00 $bleh$hHM1116$i.P57 2011
852 00 $bbar$hHM1116$i.P57 2011