Analysis Of Pinker s The, And The Expanding Circle By...

Pinker challenges the misconception about the amount of violence in the current period compared to previous periods in human history. Pinker goes on to utilize a background of historical evidence such as historical wars and the severity of punishments for crimes committed. In the past, minor crimes such as theft could result in a death punishment. Pinker demonstrates how punishments have become less violent for the crimes committed. Additionally, there appears to be more signs of human empathy towards others, aside from inner circle members such as family and friends. Pinker demonstrates how the reduction of violence levels could have attributed to media reporting, international trade, global communications and large central governments. Furthermore, Pinker’s theorizes plausible explanations attributed to Thomas Hobbes’s â€Å"Leviathan†, a wide spread sentiment that ‘life is cheap’, Robert Wright’s â€Å"Nonzero-sum Games†, and the â⠂¬Å"Expanding Circle† by Peter Singer. In Pinker’s presentation, â€Å"The Surprising Decline in Violence† Pinker states the decline in violence is a ‘fractal phenomenon’ with the â€Å"tipping point starting at the Age of Reason in the sixteenth century†. The supporting evidence is divided into Four sub categories consisting of the Millennium Scale, the Century Scale, the Decade Scale and the Year Scale. Pinker begins the Millennium Scale at around 10,000 years ago, when humans were believed to be primarily hunters and gathers, at which point Pinker presents a graph