Is The World Becoming More Violent?
I seems that every time you turn on your phone/TV/toaster you'll be greeted with some form of violence: be it a terrorist bombing attack in Europe, a battle over a city in the Middle East, or you burning your finger on the toaster you just turned on. It's virtually inescapable. Be it a North Korean missile tests, civil war in Syria or Civil War in the Marvel Universe, every media outlet seems to be hell-bent on letting us know that it is worse now than it ever was in the history of our species and that the end is nigh.
Guns don't kill people, people kill guns...hmm that's not right
Is this really true? Are we really more violent today than ever before? You'll have to read the rest of the article to find out the answer; or at least one more word: no.
Declining Rates of Violence
There has always existed a strong temptation to romanticize the days of the past. Understandably, this is a very human temptation: as we're getting older there's a natural inclination to blame our progressively shittier lives on the rest of the world rather than the fact that getting older itself is the shitty part. There was no terrorism in the 80s, no nuclear bombs or Legos to step on in the 30s, no automatic rifles 200 years ago, no universe 14 billion years ago when everything was perfectly fine! While some of this may true, our ancestors were, on the whole, far more violent than we are today.
The history of our species is replete with violence, suffering and death. Hunter gatherer societies weren't exactly egalitarian Utopias where everybody shared all their resources and lived in harmony. If you were lucky, you'll maybe to live to the ripe old age of 22 before being put to death for the crime of not having a skull as hard as the rock with which your neighbor had used to smash your head in; all because he wanted to test out his new rock. As Thomas Hobbes put it, life outside of civilization was '...nasty, brutish and short', although he resented his wife for adopting the same phrase to refer to his penis.
Modern day violent death rates would be even lower if the voices in my head would stop
In this book The Better Angels of Our Nature Profession Steven Pinker shows that contemporary hunter gatherer societies have male homicide rates of between 15% to 60%. This rate would be similar to if there were a rule which mandated every guy in our developed society to play Russian Roulette twice in their life; which would make it pretty awkward for the ones who'd already lost the first time around. In the middle ages things were only marginally better with 5%-10% of all people broken at the wheel, burnt at the stake or otherwise dying a gruesome death at the hands of their peers. And you thought witch hunts on Steemit were bad. In contrast, throughout the entire 20th century, even accounting for the horrors of World War I and its sequel, death by the hands of another person were only a fraction of 1%.
Be Vigilant, but not Paranoid
We've evolved an inherent bias towards being more sensitive to bad stimuli than good stimuli. Having ancestors that were most likely to run at the sound of a roaring lion, even if nine times out of ten the lion never appeared, means we inherited the genes that make us hate incurring losses more than we enjoy victories. The price of Steem doubling is nice and all, but I was more worried that day when it dropped 50% than that one time when I pulled too quickly and broke the string on my anal beads.
What? You weren't expecting a picture of my anal beads were you?
Similarly, we're more likely to react to the increasing amounts of bad news in the media, thanks to everyone having a camera on their phone these days, and take that to be representative of the world at large. But in actual fact, violence has steadily decreased since the dawn of civilization. That is not to say that there doesn't exist any problems in our current world but we should keep in mind that this decline in violence is not automatic or guaranteed and must be actively pursued through continued efforts.
The world is not as grim as what your Facebook feed may lead you to believe. As much as Fox News would have us think that terrorists no longer need suicide vests because Muslims have evolved explosive torsos, we mustn't lose perspective on how far we've come and how lucky we are to all be sitting here, typing up a high earning Steemit post while a Swiss model is massaging our feet. No? Just me then?
Sources:
Steven Pinker Presentation
Unilad
Image Sources 1,2,3
Thank you everyone for checking out my milestone article. The reception has truly been overwhelming, and I'm sorry I couldn't reply to every comment (I seriously tried). That was by far my best received post yet which makes the milestone article itself a milestone.
I'll be bringing back the 1 liner contest soon to help discover new talent on here, and I might consider writing a comedy writing guide if people are interested. I still wish to mostly focus on mainstream articles like this current one. They're actually the most difficult to put together as they require a bit of research and I have less freedom with the jokes, but I feel there's a shortage of these types of posts on the platform. Let me know in the comments below what you want to see more of from me.
If you enjoyed this post please Upvote, Resteem and Follow me @trafalgar for more funny articles
Here's how it looks, and the image I picked out for your story:
haha thanks really awesome :)
Well, yes getting older is a very s**tty part of it all. But as you grow older you also realize that the world is full of bad stuff, too. All the more if you have been through some of it yourself.
definitely
i want to be 4 again
maybe not 4, but yes, a lot younger.
Yes, the world is definitely becoming more violent. However it is a local phenomena since if you are born in a place and lived there all you life (it is therefore your world) then it is certainly more violent if that place is Syria for example. If you were born in South Africa likewise during the worst of apartheid it could be less violent. Followed
I write about silver. Here is my latest post: https://steemit.com/silver/@hgmsilvergold/if-you-are-a-silver-and-gold-stacker-this-is-for-you
wow congrats on getting over a million dollars. Good posts you have. :)
awesome pic! and congrats
wow nice
A post focussing on the good news instead of only bad. The World isn't such a bad place after all.
yes, exactly
Here some statistics about causes of death in Germany (year 2015):
That means to become a victim of a terror attack is statistically extremely unlikely. Ladders, stairs, cars, my own psyche are all much more dangerous (which still doesn't mean I refuse to sit in a car ... :-) )
I wonder why newspapers aren't full of cover stories about dangerous ladders, how to forbid them, fight against them and punish everybody who dares to buy one ...
It is true that if a terror attack happens, it is really terrible for all affected persons and I really feel with them and their relatives and friends, but that doesn't change my opinion that we react completely irrational. We do exactly what the terrorists want: fear them a lot and talk and read about them all the time ... As a consequence the terrorists are winning even if they are less dangerous than ordinary traffic jam: we change our behavior and restrict voluntarily our own freedom (in the seek of vain safety).
yes it's true, as soon as you introduce an element of human intention, our reaction to violence completely changes
we've had relatively few terrorist acts in Australia (3 deaths in the last few years) but a lot of laws have been changed in response to it, whereas floods and forest fires can cause far more deaths and we don't react anywhere near as strongly
Hey, I want you to see your post on Hackernoon! Hackernoon has 120,000 readers! So here it is:
https://hackernoon.com/three-months-one-thousand-followers-and-one-million-dollars-later-1a9aa6686ea5
hey that looks awesome!
You made it look a lot classier
thank you for your efforts :)
it has 10 recommends and over 400+ reads on Hackernoon, plus the absurd number of views on Steemit, what, 5400+ reads! I love that article! I've read it like 5 times so far. You really need to write a book. You'd be a best-selling author i think.
That's so cool that you did that.
Yeah, violence has been on the decline, regardless of what the news makes out, but don't you worry:
I'm bringing violence back!
make it ultraviolence please
Thanks old droog, you're a real horrorshow!
hahaha fantastic! Can't wait!
There are two answers to the subject of this posts.
Yes
No
And the reason for both is same. Let me explain it. The world is not fair and all the people on this planet are not getting equal opportunities, facilities, environment, education, goverance and prosperity.
The regions where people are enjoying prosperous lives are becoming less violent in general whereas the parts of the world where lives of people are getting worse and worse show trends of more violence over time. European countries vs African countries for example. There is a stark difference in the living standards and quite naturally a stark difference in the activities of violence.
Technology is helping solving this problem through interaction, education, financial uplift and raising living standards.
Wishing for a peaceful world.
@ilyastarar
You are right, I live in Honduras and we have a very high murder rate, I'm talking about 14 a day, 30 years ago it was about 1 a day. But I don't see anything solving it, the only thing the government does is add more policemen who do nothing.
Thank you for the example from your own experience. Because no one is solving the problem properly, the crime rate has soared. Had there been a concerned goverment, people could have been served better and they wouldn't be so violent.
I am gonna get flamed a lot for saying this, but here I go anyways. The fact that Earth is getting a bit overpopulated doesn't make things any easier. Tons of new people being born that will probably not have a proper family or a proper education only hints that things may become worse. Especially in poorer countries, it is common for a woman to give birth to seven or eight kids during their lifetimes, and often these women don't have a proper education, they lack a husband, have to work minimum wages, and all that translates into the fact that she really can't take care of her kids, which then grow in the streets and are exposed to bad influences as they become adults. :(
And then someone comes along and says we are going to colonize space and save Earth for food and water. Everyone will have a position in this effort and will be paid by the most popular cryptocurrency for their efforts. huh? Oh wow I was dreaming.
i agree.
Thank you
lol
I have analyzed thru the whitewashed garbage in my city/region --- the facts that crime is way way down and we keep hiring more and more police officers.
That is a one line issue but when you consider nobody challenges their budget or practices, ( I have for years, openly and been targeted and harassed) --- the liberty aspect and the fiscal aspect of their 30 year huge wages and pensions and benefits is draining the system --- and is like this everywhere, not just my area.
yes, the trend is definitely that violence is going down, within developed communities and the world at large
absolutely agree
Violence by the state on residents and humanity in general, well, that is a different story of course as it relates to these numbers and trends.
You have a good night. Or day.
Well, wherever you are ahead of me somewhere LOL
Well, I don't know. In undeveloped countries violence is very commonplace. Drug cartels, gang wars, etc.
Because I am American, I formed my opinion before I read any of your delightful article. My answer was... "It depends". And that still is my answer. But sure enough, you addressed exactly what I was going to bring up. It all depends on what we are comparing.
We are definitely more civilized and less violent than 1000 years ago... but are we civilized enough? I say "no". I have very high expectations for human beings. We are an incredibly intelligent species. I think we can do much better.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of money to be made off of violence. For that reason alone, I fear we will not reach our full potential. Sensationalizing violence pays. If we could stop that, we could make even more progress. "But if ifs and buts were candy and nuts..." I still wouldn't eat them because who wants to eat a butt? Especially if it still has some beads lodged in it?
Oh yes, I mean comparing 1000 years ago isn't exactly a high bar, but we have made very gradual progress
You'd think being on the cusp of colonize mars and quantum computing would mean our killing each other on large scale days are well behind us, but no. Definitely room for improvement here
Wow. That may be the most meaningful conversation we have ever had. Have we become an old married couple? Is the excitement dead?
Oh never mind... the beads are still there!
Oh I have the answer. We colonize mars, find some creatures living there and then kill them instead.
Oh wait. That sounds a lot like what happened in the 1500s. Damn!
This time we can put it on the news every night!
What I am thinking is that the world is more connected these days than ever before with social media and things of that sort... The world is more connected and every bad news or good news can be received instantly.... just my thoughts. Let's all make a world a better place :)
Valid point. Almost every phone can make videos now a days and with the internet it spreads really fast to people who are looking for it. This creates an image that the world is on fire but random acts of kindness are also seen this way. It depends on the propaganda that coverment's want to feed us. Social media connect us indeed so that misleading information can be exposed. Change starts with ourself first, be an example or better an inspiration for others. At least that's what I do.
Absolutely agree and what are your mainstream media people telling you? And, do you see social media being regulated in the area of free speech to redirect the media desired narrative? Trust your own intuition.
yes i definitely agree
You the man @Trafalgar ... keep up the awesome posts!
Connectivity certainly does accelerate the process of knowledge. I think we all need to bring the hippie out in us and start Peace Rallies. LOL
I agree with you haha
I'm a fan of Steven Pinker and particularly The Better Angels of Our Nature. That's absolutely right - we live in the most peaceful times ever. Thank you for writing this - it's always an important reminder.
PS: I wrote about this very topic 10 months ago! And again 7 months ago. Oh, how time flies :)
ya his work is awesome, he's a very clear thinker and good communicator
hope you don't mind me going over the same ground you've already covered
This ground was covered by Steven Pinker first, and I say keep writing about it! It's an important topic that should get as much attention as the doom saying media. Of course, it's much more than just violence - the world is improving in pretty much every way (except for the environment).
I have a massage chair but sadly my Steemit post don't even worth a penny. However, it doesn't prevent me from agreeing with you.
I think the overwhelming ease of access to information, true or fake, make us not able to see the turth.
Just like during SARS time in Hong Kong, all the news about how many persons got infected that day, how many people died of SARS, etc make Hong Kong people extremely sensitive and majority of them felt really like end of world had arrived. Nobody dared to go out because they afraid that they would bump into a SARA carrier in the street and got infected. But the odd was even lower that seeing a TV star shoppinv next to you.
I totally agree, all those epidemics were such nonsense
bird flu, cow flu, sars, rolls eyes
On behalf of the entire platform, I would to thank you for not including the picture of your beads. Thank you very much!
He got them off me on ebay
No buyer's remorse there.
And you sir... must have been doing some serious yoga.
I completely understand how you did not get to all of the comments on your milestone, my computer was having a HELL of a time loading your page...my laptop was like chug a chug a chug a chug a NAH UH, LOL!!
So I decided it would probably make more sense to quit getting frustrated and come to this post, it appears this is an acceptable amount for my girl. (Yes, my laptop is female, and I love her like men love cars :)
What I wanted to say in the milestone, well actually I wanted to state a belief I have at this current point in time. And I'm being entirely serious here- The universe is exalting creative people right now. What I mean is that I'm not surprised at all that you are in the position you're in, because you are a creative being, so naturally steemit would have been what drew you. And I really do believe it is simply time for the creators, artists, inventors, and...as my name would suggest, the dreamers. We are being helped along by some invisible force that wants us to succeed.
In a way it correlates with this post, the idea that violence has in fact decreased mightily. There is a great number of debates concerning whether or not we've crossed from the pisces era to the age of aquarius (and regardless of how that sounds, I'm not a 'read your horoscope in the morning' individual) but if we haven't quite made it into the age of 'knowing' which is in part what that represents, we are certainly on the brink.
I don't know if it will ever be possible to have utopia in this realm of existence, what I do know is that there is a massive amount of people who are way past petty violence and greed, who could and would thrive in a world where the only law was Do No Harm. Where the quest for knowledge replaced the quest for money, where we all loved our neighbor as we love ourselves.
In a lot of ways (or for the most part) I think steemit is a great representation of what that society would look like.
I am super happy for your good fortune, congrats my friend, keep doing what you're doing you are exactly what is needed here :)
thank you very much dreemit!
yes we can sequence our genome and shove billions of transistors into a wafer the size of a quarter yet we still haven't found a way to to resist the urge to not kill each other on a large scale
progress is slow, but its noticeable
Nice Sharing. I tread some article it even said nowadays people become more violent because of the population of metal music. Well, I don't really agree with it. So, do they main if people listening classical music they will become more gentle? If it is the case, China will force everyone listening classical music 7X24 hours XD.
Thanks for your sharing. Hope you could also visit my post if you think it is alright.
https://steemit.com/chainbb-general/@victorier/what-is-li-s-field-li-s-force-field-in-hong-kong-2017612t132027405z
Thanks!
haha it's unlikely that there's such a strong relationship between the type of music and level of violence
I agree with everything you said, but (for the sake of discussion) I'll also put forth the idea the world (in some respects) isn't violent enough. It seems at any other time in history the commoners would have risen up well before the gap in wealth widen to the point it has currently achieved.
Government is corrupt to the core, to such an extent that anyone who's even remotely paying attention can clearly see our democratic republic has become an oligarchy. In times past society would've already "eaten the rich" and been well on the way to the next uprising.
Having said that,though, I'd also like to point out that I believe we've found a better way in the blockchain. I think we don't have to do things the old way, with violence, to reestablish order because we now have the tools to simply outgrow corrupt governments & bureaucracy and shape the world into a place where we can put our trust into each other without the need to empower those who have historically, arguably out of necessity (at the time), used the power we gave them against us to further their agendas at our expense.
Only a few years ago I would have argued the only solution to the current global plight of financial inequality and eroding liberties would be to take up arms and cut a bloody swathe through history to take back all that we've lost over the past century. Now I can clearly see how empowering knowledge can be, and is becoming, and there's no need to overthrow governments and the sinister forces driving them. We're already on our way to simply making them obsolete and eventually extinct. All we have to do is carry on into the inevitable future.
yes blockchain is a very interesting piece of technology
lets hope it can bring more equality in this world
Excellent tearing down of one of the most common myths of our time and perhaps all time.
I love how you mix up the fun with the education. That makes this an article I can share even with those not necessarily interested in hearing a sermon.
Thanks a lot ego, I try to inject a bit of humor into my pieces :)
Interesting debate, the news certainly works on fear. I'm guessing if they had international news stations 1000 years ago then they would be even more in fear!
The world is becoming more political and divisive. And the reports of violence is just being used to perpetuate agendas. The media looks for reasons to blame violent acts on racism, poverty, homophobia, etc. rather than just saying that some people just suck and are evil pieces of sh@t!!!
I also believe all the reports of violence are part of agenda to keep the fear factor alive. There was an anti muslim protest here in roseville, ca. I think the powers that be want the public to be dependent on the gov't so the gov't can make up bullshit and control the people. Its pretty sick to think that some people crave that kind of power. Live and let live and leave me the hell alone!!
I could not agree more.
About violence, i think it will never end until the judgement day is closer to us . Since we still friends with the devil, it will be a lasting force in the face of the earth. Treasure, throne, and the woman seemed to be a powerful weapon for the devil to make us never stop doing things that could hurt many parties. All of it back to us respectively. Which side that we choosen? Right or wrong?
Btw, thanks for this great information, my friend @trafalgar
To what I see the world is separated on two halves. One is violent the other is nice.
The issue is that violence leada us to destruction. The kind part tries to fix the path of destruction. Hopefully things get better for the future.
Indeed and those trying to escape the violent part are welcomed with more violence where is supposed to be nice...
The world has been a mess ever since, uhm, forever? The fact that we have TV's and social media nowadays is the only distinction between chaos back then and now. According to studies, we are living in the most peaceful times of human history. Trust studies and enjoy Steemit like @trafalgar.
Maybe, or even maybe not. My father and mother(whom are in their 60s) have taught me something about today's "crazy and violence". It's not that there's more, it's that there's more exposure. Thanks to instant sharing and broadcasting and viral posting, seeing all over the world is easier than ever.
YEᔕ !! You can say that the world is heading towards war. I am now in syria and I can see how people are living here !
We're in the most peaceful times ever in the history of mankind. Widespread mental disorder is the bigger problem, imo..
yes definitely agree on both points kevin
mental disorder is a very challenging problem
Yep. The media tends to portray a much different picture than the raw data suggests.
This post received a 34% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @buzzbeergeek! For more information, click here!
haha thanks guys
Sure! I was hoping to make it a nice surprise ;)
I don't know the numbers but I feel that there is much less violence then, say, 50 years ago (feeling). Just news go viral and negative/violent news get more views because of reason you said about lions.
yes, absolutely :)
it's all because of the lions
though I still prefer them to dentists :p
The swiss model I am massaging just told me not to stop, while I was making this comment. I am starting from the bottom, but that's okay.
hahaha
The world has always been violent and the connected world brings us the information much quicker. In the old days a volcano eruption in one part of the world will only be reported a month later because news gets carried by steam ship. Today it is the internet.
Further more violence on TV is just another way to desensitise us to violence for what may come.
yes the violent hasn't really increased, but we're just far more aware of it
To be aware there is violence is good, but to have it put in front of your face every second of the day is not good for ones psychology.
Thanks for this great article!
What I learned from the past: Turn off your facebook and stop reading comments of strangers under Fox News and co. posts and the world becomes a much more peaceful place. At least for yourself ;)
ya that sounds like good advice
I think it's a part of the system through media to affect people! the ruler of this world is the same and bad things happens all the time but we don't know about them all. Thank you for the post! I found it interesting! @ trafalgar up!
I am less pessimistic, I do think we are progressing slowly
gotta look back pretty far for it to be apparent though
I don't know if the world is becoming more violent, but "hate" is definitely starting to feel like the new "love". Outside of maybe the technology sector and the abstract creative arts, it feels like people are rallying behind the shared interest of what they hate. If you aren't expressing anger in an absolute direction, one way or the other, no one identifies with your value as a human being. Most importantly, it seems like your message must either be aligned with the mainstream media or in complete opposition to it. If you fall anywhere in between in pursuit of your own unique self, you just become a target for both sides to massacre or disregard.
i agree that politics is definitely becoming more polarized
ill write about it one day
World becoming more violet? Well if the Softbank partnership with Saudi Arabia to buy the worlds most advanced manufacturer of military robots, Boston Dynamics, is anything to go on, then it's about to get even more so.
The Saudi sponsored tech fund is the largest in the world. Yikes!
did not know that, i suppose that is worrying
It sure is - I don't know whether I'm more worried about Saudi Arabia using this tech to police their own citizens, using it to wage ground warfare against their enemies, or allowing the tech to fall into the wrong hands to be used for heaven knows what. I suppose all 3 of these scenarios are equally worrying.
Awesome article, people have no idea how good we have it.
ya
thank you blitz
Resteemed by @resteemable
thanks
Yes, because we are forced to subsume more than we want to
this is true to an extent too, we live in difficult times
The media wants to indoctrinate people and scare them into accepting further encroachments on their individual liberties and further regulatory burdens which are in the end quite Hegelian and end up creating the problems they're allegedly trying to solve.
Imagine living in the 1500s in a rural community. You look at someone the wrong way and there's a change you'll get slaughtered and cut into pieces.
People are more intelligent now. Less self sufficient, but definitely more intelligent. People worry more about the consequences that come with killing others and since death isn't as much of a constant part of their life like it was way back when, they're more protective of other human life and more morally against murdering someone which should go without saying.
Thanks for another great article! :) Upvoted as usual!
yes absolutely, thats peter singers expanding circle in a nutshell :)
Goverments just want people to be scared, it is the point - they will then trust them more.
that's certainly true
and the media is also partly to blame for this bias towards bad news
Not only is the world getting more violent, generally people are reacting indifferently to it. Maybe it is conditioning. Now adays many whip out a phone to record rather than help!
yes it's a true shame
Mankind is indeed naturally predisposed to violence and destruction, that is nothing new. This predisposition explains why creativity is so widely revered and celebrated.
There are many factors that may make the World appear more violent. The way modern society deals with criminals and the insane (or doesn't deal with them to be more accurate) and the ease and speed of travel come to mind most often for me.
@trafalgar, have you ever noticed that good news never make headline news?
The media helped to hype the violence we are experiencing today. Whatever you focus on, multiples.
Nice topic.
yes, we're wired to be attracted to bad news and the media exploits that fact
i started following you bacause you are engaging with pepole and your posts are amazing
thanks a lot, i'm glad you enjoyed my silly sense of humor
I agree with stackin, love the name by the way, that we as a global community are more connected through tech. which makes this fog or haze of negative information around all of us 24/7 filled with just plain bad news. We've always been a violent species or at least through this last coming back from the former fall of mankind. Look up ancient societies and myths such as Atlantis for thoughts on what we once may have been. I believe we were once much more than we are now and maybe more than once throughout our history. I've found that the less tech. there is in my life the better my world actually is..............
yes, hopefully we can overcome our tribal urges and learn to live in peace
our very existence depends on it
Ultra game of thrones violence is allowed in youtube, but any video showing half boob of Daeneris is censored...very sad...
ya, we still play by the rules of the bible
This is surprising to me. I would've thought that violence is the past was a tad exaggerated, but then numbers don't lie. Maybe because we live in this age that's why we tend to stress that this is the worst it's ever been. I mean, we didn't experience the Dark Ages, so we can't do a firsthand comparison. Perhaps being desensitized to the violence has its benefits as well. Since we're so used to it, it's nothing new. One can only compare if one has lived in different period of humanity's existence. Until then, we can just rely on what the data tells us. Don't fight me on this or I will flip out and rage all over this place!
trafalgar, great article, I could not agree with your more. Upvoted, Resteemed and Following.. TraderDad
thanks, glad you enjoyed it
i really love reading your article ma'am, i learn something and worth reading for. upvoted and resteemed, thank you for this post.
thank you for having a look
as always madame, your followers and i, will not be disappointed that we follow you. always make an article like this or more interesting than this, God bless you
more cowbell
The toaster lol.
haha ya gotta watch out for them!
A very meaningful and thoughtful article. I think in general the world is not becoming more violent, but under some occasions it is. Take Hong Kong as an example, people are becoming more and more unsatisfied with the government and a riot broke out eventually - people threw bricks at the police and many people were sent to jail for several years. Riots at this level of violence has never occurred in the recent years, and I am sure the level of violence in Hong Kong has been increasing over years. It is because the citizens believe that peace cannot solve the problem, that's why they turned to violence. This is very sad, but under such a government we have no choice, but to stand up and fight against the government violently.
yes I agree, in hong kong a lot of ppl are becoming disaffected
in smaller pockets, or over shorter periods of time, it's not apparent, but i think in the long run we've made steady progress
it's not guaranteed though, so we need to be mindful :)