[Sparks: 1] On the myth of violence

Julián Esteban Torres López, HW Director & Columnist

["Sparks" is the Heavy Words Staff's column.  The purpose is for a staff member to choose a text that can be viewed or listened to (note: not all texts are books), provide a summary and/or analysis, and share the text with the our audience to "spark" discussion among the Heavy Words community]

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According to Steven Pinker, contrary to conventional wisdom, our species – yes, of the human variety – is living in exceptional times; opportune times, if you will.  This is not to say that we may be far from a possible species extinction or demise due to variables of our own doing (i.e., nuclear war, impact of overconsumption and pollution).  Nevertheless, it should be noted that never before in human history has our species been more peaceful.

In this “Age of Terror,” everything is cause for alarm and fear.  From listening to the news, to dissecting state security policies, to sparking up a conversation at a cafe, it is difficult to get away from the terror rhetoric and propaganda.  Yet, as Steven Pinker has so kindly pointed out, we are embedded in a grand myth of violence.

Let me first point out that Pinker mostly deals with direct violence where an individual may actually kill you.  Pinker does not deal with other genres of violence, such as systemic or symbolic.  However, we should all come to accept the truth that an individual today, in the 21^st century, has less chance than any other time in history of being a victim of homicide.  Even in the 20^th century – with its numerous great wars and tens of millions left dead as a result of mostly man-to-man combat – a human still had less chance of dying at the hand of another than humans did, say, just one or two hundred or a thousand years prior.  And the farther back on the timeline you go, by and large, the higher the probability that you would die a painful death at the hand of another.

This is not to minimize the importance of 21^st century threats, but it does put our fears of terror into context.  We are more likely to die of old age, lifestyle choices, accidents, or neglect (via particular systems of organization and individual/collective lifestyle choices), as a species, than by a knife, a bullet, a sword, a cannon ball, a spear, or a good grip.  This should be celebrated.  We should be asking, like Pinker suggests, “What have we been doing right?” alongside questions of “What have we been doing wrong?” when we speak of 21^st century violence.

Is Pinker successful in persuading you take accept his position on the myth of violence?  Click on his talk below, and judge for yourself.  We look forward to discussing the topic further in the comments section below.

Steven Pinker on the myth of Violence
<http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/steven_pinker_on_the_myth_of_violence.html>

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Photo credit: War on Terror, the boardgame
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