Any amount of violence of one human being against another is deplorable, but the most recent century of human history is characterized by how remarkably little violence it has had compared to any previous human century since hunter-gatherer bands turned into tribes and then nation-states.
Re:Ask HN: Is World War III imminent?
by j_baker on Monday March 26, 2012 @10:44AM
(#3756903)
One could argue that violence by more organized societies is worse. I mean, there's no way a loosely organized band of hunter-gatherers could come up with an Atomic Bomb. Nor could they fight a World War.
Maybe he should read Steven Pinker's new book, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Better-Angels-Nature-ebook/dp/B005...
Here's a discussion of the main point of that book:
http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/qa-with-steven-pinker/
Any amount of violence of one human being against another is deplorable, but the most recent century of human history is characterized by how remarkably little violence it has had compared to any previous human century since hunter-gatherer bands turned into tribes and then nation-states.