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A review by plottingtowin
The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker
3.0
This book was a chore to get through as you can tell by my extended 6+ month reading time.
I have learned a lot from the statistics and the stories that Pinker shared, however, the book was not always presented in the most digestible format. Additionally, at times it was difficult to distinguish “fact” (based on data) versus Pinker’s opinion. I would encourage future readers to read closely so that you don’t combine the two.
The first third was about the history of violence in humanity with some current day examples, data/statistics, and lots of examples of him blaming religion as the main cause. Some of the religious examples were relevant, but other times it just seemed like he was trying to convince the reader that religion was a hoax and secular humanism is the way to go. Full disclaimer: I have religious beliefs so take my criticism as you wish.
The second third was a little too scientific than I would have liked as he tried to described the anatomy of the human brain and experiments linked to it. At times he would just throw scientific terms out there and expect the reader to understand. It became dense really quickly and not interesting. This was probably where half my time was spent reading because it just became a chore. Did I learn a lot? Yes. Did it motivate me to read more? No.
The last third was spent on philosophy. I really enjoyed this section because he focused on reason and sympathy. His perspective on the trends and connections between IQ and classical liberalism and how it relates to current politics was very interesting.
I have learned a lot from the statistics and the stories that Pinker shared, however, the book was not always presented in the most digestible format. Additionally, at times it was difficult to distinguish “fact” (based on data) versus Pinker’s opinion. I would encourage future readers to read closely so that you don’t combine the two.
The first third was about the history of violence in humanity with some current day examples, data/statistics, and lots of examples of him blaming religion as the main cause. Some of the religious examples were relevant, but other times it just seemed like he was trying to convince the reader that religion was a hoax and secular humanism is the way to go. Full disclaimer: I have religious beliefs so take my criticism as you wish.
The second third was a little too scientific than I would have liked as he tried to described the anatomy of the human brain and experiments linked to it. At times he would just throw scientific terms out there and expect the reader to understand. It became dense really quickly and not interesting. This was probably where half my time was spent reading because it just became a chore. Did I learn a lot? Yes. Did it motivate me to read more? No.
The last third was spent on philosophy. I really enjoyed this section because he focused on reason and sympathy. His perspective on the trends and connections between IQ and classical liberalism and how it relates to current politics was very interesting.