The better angels of our nature: why violence has declined

By Bruce Maxwell. 2013

713 citations recorded by the source corpus.

How researchers see this paper

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“Death is certain, the time is not”: mortality and survival in Game of Thrones (2018, background): “Violence has been a feature of every society throughout human history; however, there has been a sizable decline over time (Pinker 2011).”
Harm inflation: Making sense of concept creep (2020, background): “It has been argued that rates of violence (e.g., homicide, war deaths) and other kinds of harm have been steadily declining for centuries (Pinker, 2011).”
The Making of Violent Extremists (2018, background): “However, ideologically motivated violence persists, even if it may be declining over time (Pinker, 2011).”
On the Psychology of Scarcity: When Reminders of Resource Scarcity Promote Selfish (and Generous) Behavior (2015, background): “For example, history provides countless accounts of global entities competing intensely (e.g., going to war) over scarce resources (Pinker 2011), and the popular press regularly showcases instances when product shortages have led to violent competitive reactions among consumers (e.g., Baldwin 2011;…”
The evolutionary anthropology of war (2017, background): “Although rates of death from violence have declined in recent centuries and outright warfare among states has become increasingly rare (Eisner, 2001; Pinker, 2011), intergroup violence persists at all scales of human society, from urban gangs to global terrorism.”