Atheistically Speaking Book Club discussion

This is the discussion thread for the third part of The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.

Chapter 4: The Humanitarian Revolution

This part gets really graphic - it's the chapter I'm least looking forward to reading.

I loved the rise in literacy explanation for the rise in empathy and the humanitarian revolution. I wonder how this compares to the media we consume today. With the addition of the internet, audio, movies, and TV, we are exposed to exponentially more media, but we also read books and novels less. I wonder if today's media is less substantial or more shallow, and if the vastly greater quantities make up for any drop in quality. It at least helps force exposure on people who are willfully ignorant.

I also think there's something to be said for how fragmented our media has become. It is a lot easier today to consume media (TV, radio, books, etc) that correspond to our pre-existing beliefs about the world than it was forty years ago, or a hundred and forty years ago, and so it is much easier for people to go through life without having their assumptions and prejudices challenged. Markus Prior wrote a fascinating book on this topic called Post Broadcast Democracy, focusing on the effects of cable TV on people's political opinions and behavior. And I would not be surprised if the same phenomenon is relevant here as well.

I wonder what the ultimate outcome of our evolution/socialization will be. Could we reach a peaceful world? Could we have a sharing economy? It's hard to keep the hope alive with violence always in the news though!

Shannon wrote: "I also think there's something to be said for how fragmented our media has become. It is a lot easier today to consume media (TV, radio, books, etc) that correspond to our pre-existing beliefs abou..."

I agree. It's so easy to surround yourself with your own opinions and think you're well informed. There are also groups like ISIS who are using this new wide access to media to recruit people into committing violence. It's really hard to tell what the net effect is.

Danielle wrote: "Shannon wrote: "I also think there's something to be said for how fragmented our media has become. It is a lot easier today to consume media (TV, radio, books, etc) that correspond to our pre-exist..."

Good point. Don't know if Pinker comes to that later in the book. Although certainly the Internet is used for all kinds of malicious ends (ISIS being a gruesome example), I think (hope?)the net effect is (or will be) positive: just as Pinker describes the role of the printing press: that is used for misinformation as well (e.g. the bible!), but in the long run......I'm hopefull.

Marcel wrote: "Good point. Don't know if Pinker comes to that later in the book."

Pinker goes into it a little at the end of chapter 5, but the book is too old to look at things like ISIS. I've seen articles by Pinker that speak very positively about mass media, and more recent articles that reaffirm his position of declining violence even in the face of ISIS.