The United States Is Not an Apocalyptic Wasteland, Explains Steven Pinker

[ThunderKiss1965]

December 6, 2016 // 10:10 AM EST

Donald Trump’s rise to power was driven in part by an apocalyptic narrative according to which, in a phrase, you are in grave danger. This is consistent with many people’s intuitions about the world, given the ongoing threat of global terrorism, the US’s slow recovery from the Great Recession, and a sense that the Washington establishment is corrupt and doesn’t care about the average citizen’s needs. Is Trump’s apocalypticism right? Are we living in an exceptionally dangerous period of human history? Are these the desperate times that call for desperate measures?

According to the Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, the answer is a resounding No. In his 2011 book The Better Angels of Our Nature, Pinker presents a mountain of evidence showing that violence has been declining for millennia—a trend that has continued through the twentieth century and up to the present. For example, since World War II there have been no major wars between the world’s great powers, a phenomenon dubbed the “Long Peace,” and Pinker argues that the end of the Cold War inaugurated a “New Peace” that’s marked by a worldwide decline of “organized conflicts of all kinds—civil wars, genocides, repression by autocratic governments, and terrorist attacks.”

But will this trend continue in a post-Trump, post-truth world? Pinker is clear in Better Angles that it might not—for instance, there could be accessible “weapons of total destruction” (WTDs) that precipitate a global catastrophe, or authoritarian demagogues that misuse and abuse their political power. To understand what Trump’s victory means for America and, even more, what it means for the future of civilization, I contacted Pinker via email.

Motherboard: Trump has repeatedly painted an apocalyptic picture of contemporary America. He has talked about (black) people getting shot while walking down the street, about terrorists disguising themselves as refugeesfleeing the atrocities of Syria, and about Mexico sending its “criminals” and “rapists” across the southern border. Could you briefly explain why this characterization of the contemporary US is factually wrong?
Steven Pinker: Unfortunately, it’s all too easy for newsreaders to believe that apocalyptic picture. The news media give lavish coverage to violent incidents, seldom follow up on negative reportage in the past, and rarely put events in statistical or historical perspective. Worse, they allow themselves to be played by violence impresarios, namely terrorists and rampage killers, who correctly anticipate that they can attract the world’s attention by killing a number of innocent people at once. This is true not just of tabloids and cable news chasing eyeballs and clicks, but of high-quality outlets who feel that by highlighting what goes wrong, they are discharging their duty as watchdogs, muckrakers, and afflicters of the comfortable.

The facts are as follows. The rate of violent crime is lower now than it was at any time between 1966 and 2009. Immigrants have a lower rate of violent crime than American citizens. Terrorists kill just three-tenths of one percent of all American homicide victims. The rate of death from terrorism in the United States was higher in the early 1970s than it is today. And since 2002, more Americans have been killed by right-wing American terrorists than by Islamic terrorists. It’s true that the rate of violent crime went up between 2014 and 2015, most likely a consequence of the retreat of active policing since Ferguson. But it’s a small uptick in the context of the massive downward trend since 1992.

Read rest of interview here: The United States Is Not an Apocalyptic Wasteland, Explains Steven Pinker
-----------------------

Very interesting interview, and refreshing to hear a guy like Pinker echoing the same things that I've said about Trump, but he explains it much better than I ever could.

Have you seen Detroit lately I've seen bombed out cities that look more lively. How about the murder rate in Chicago over 700 hundred this year and counting that's the highest its been in 20 years. Both are glaring examples of decades of Democratic party rule

I love the part about rightwing terrorist , The problem with the assertion is when the Government classifies attacks as work place violence as they did with the Ft. Hood massacre or ignore the reasons behind the attacks as was the case for the beltway sniper murders. People like yourself also ignore the largest terrorist attack this nation has ever faced so you can massage the numbers. Personally I don't care what the reasons are if you kill innocent people because of a belief system you are a terrorist. Check out the link I've provided that blows you assertion on terrorist attacks out of the water.

http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/25885/

 

[TemplarKormac]

While we're on that subject, why do you think America is a "dystopian hellhole"?

The United States. There is a fundamental distinction that your are clearly uneducated on.

Materlialism, henodism, greed, ignorance, savagery, gluttony, vainglory, depression, sycophancy, cowardice, morons like yourself, ect.

Oh is that all?

 

[TemplarKormac]

Why? Because I have a cause beyond serving myself.

No, you're simply being a narcissist.

 

[TemplarKormac]

and it's all rainbow farts and unicorn vaginas

"rainbow farts and unicorn vaginas."

Ladies and gentlemen, I present the prose of the Pete "Angry Turd," the official twat of USMB.

"Angry Turd"

Stunning prose. Bravo.


Not.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Criticizing the worlds largest slave state goes hand in hand with my life purpose.

Well...

Like I said earlier. You don't have to be here.

 

[OKTexas]

December 6, 2016 // 10:10 AM EST

Donald Trump’s rise to power was driven in part by an apocalyptic narrative according to which, in a phrase, you are in grave danger. This is consistent with many people’s intuitions about the world, given the ongoing threat of global terrorism, the US’s slow recovery from the Great Recession, and a sense that the Washington establishment is corrupt and doesn’t care about the average citizen’s needs. Is Trump’s apocalypticism right? Are we living in an exceptionally dangerous period of human history? Are these the desperate times that call for desperate measures?

According to the Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, the answer is a resounding No. In his 2011 book The Better Angels of Our Nature, Pinker presents a mountain of evidence showing that violence has been declining for millennia—a trend that has continued through the twentieth century and up to the present. For example, since World War II there have been no major wars between the world’s great powers, a phenomenon dubbed the “Long Peace,” and Pinker argues that the end of the Cold War inaugurated a “New Peace” that’s marked by a worldwide decline of “organized conflicts of all kinds—civil wars, genocides, repression by autocratic governments, and terrorist attacks.”

But will this trend continue in a post-Trump, post-truth world? Pinker is clear in Better Angles that it might not—for instance, there could be accessible “weapons of total destruction” (WTDs) that precipitate a global catastrophe, or authoritarian demagogues that misuse and abuse their political power. To understand what Trump’s victory means for America and, even more, what it means for the future of civilization, I contacted Pinker via email.

Motherboard: Trump has repeatedly painted an apocalyptic picture of contemporary America. He has talked about (black) people getting shot while walking down the street, about terrorists disguising themselves as refugeesfleeing the atrocities of Syria, and about Mexico sending its “criminals” and “rapists” across the southern border. Could you briefly explain why this characterization of the contemporary US is factually wrong?
Steven Pinker: Unfortunately, it’s all too easy for newsreaders to believe that apocalyptic picture. The news media give lavish coverage to violent incidents, seldom follow up on negative reportage in the past, and rarely put events in statistical or historical perspective. Worse, they allow themselves to be played by violence impresarios, namely terrorists and rampage killers, who correctly anticipate that they can attract the world’s attention by killing a number of innocent people at once. This is true not just of tabloids and cable news chasing eyeballs and clicks, but of high-quality outlets who feel that by highlighting what goes wrong, they are discharging their duty as watchdogs, muckrakers, and afflicters of the comfortable.

The facts are as follows. The rate of violent crime is lower now than it was at any time between 1966 and 2009. Immigrants have a lower rate of violent crime than American citizens. Terrorists kill just three-tenths of one percent of all American homicide victims. The rate of death from terrorism in the United States was higher in the early 1970s than it is today. And since 2002, more Americans have been killed by right-wing American terrorists than by Islamic terrorists. It’s true that the rate of violent crime went up between 2014 and 2015, most likely a consequence of the retreat of active policing since Ferguson. But it’s a small uptick in the context of the massive downward trend since 1992.

Read rest of interview here: The United States Is Not an Apocalyptic Wasteland, Explains Steven Pinker
-----------------------

Very interesting interview, and refreshing to hear a guy like Pinker echoing the same things that I've said about Trump, but he explains it much better than I ever could.

I'm sure the 4000 shot and 700 dead in Chicago this year along with the 100+ million on welfare will find this comforting.

^ And this is why Trump won. Facts don't matter to you rubes. Trump played you guys like a fucking violin.

Opinions and assholes, every body has one, you just happen to be one with an opinion.

 

[owebo]

December 6, 2016 // 10:10 AM EST

Donald Trump’s rise to power was driven in part by an apocalyptic narrative according to which, in a phrase, you are in grave danger. This is consistent with many people’s intuitions about the world, given the ongoing threat of global terrorism, the US’s slow recovery from the Great Recession, and a sense that the Washington establishment is corrupt and doesn’t care about the average citizen’s needs. Is Trump’s apocalypticism right? Are we living in an exceptionally dangerous period of human history? Are these the desperate times that call for desperate measures?

According to the Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, the answer is a resounding No. In his 2011 book The Better Angels of Our Nature, Pinker presents a mountain of evidence showing that violence has been declining for millennia—a trend that has continued through the twentieth century and up to the present. For example, since World War II there have been no major wars between the world’s great powers, a phenomenon dubbed the “Long Peace,” and Pinker argues that the end of the Cold War inaugurated a “New Peace” that’s marked by a worldwide decline of “organized conflicts of all kinds—civil wars, genocides, repression by autocratic governments, and terrorist attacks.”

But will this trend continue in a post-Trump, post-truth world? Pinker is clear in Better Angles that it might not—for instance, there could be accessible “weapons of total destruction” (WTDs) that precipitate a global catastrophe, or authoritarian demagogues that misuse and abuse their political power. To understand what Trump’s victory means for America and, even more, what it means for the future of civilization, I contacted Pinker via email.

Motherboard: Trump has repeatedly painted an apocalyptic picture of contemporary America. He has talked about (black) people getting shot while walking down the street, about terrorists disguising themselves as refugeesfleeing the atrocities of Syria, and about Mexico sending its “criminals” and “rapists” across the southern border. Could you briefly explain why this characterization of the contemporary US is factually wrong?
Steven Pinker: Unfortunately, it’s all too easy for newsreaders to believe that apocalyptic picture. The news media give lavish coverage to violent incidents, seldom follow up on negative reportage in the past, and rarely put events in statistical or historical perspective. Worse, they allow themselves to be played by violence impresarios, namely terrorists and rampage killers, who correctly anticipate that they can attract the world’s attention by killing a number of innocent people at once. This is true not just of tabloids and cable news chasing eyeballs and clicks, but of high-quality outlets who feel that by highlighting what goes wrong, they are discharging their duty as watchdogs, muckrakers, and afflicters of the comfortable.

The facts are as follows. The rate of violent crime is lower now than it was at any time between 1966 and 2009. Immigrants have a lower rate of violent crime than American citizens. Terrorists kill just three-tenths of one percent of all American homicide victims. The rate of death from terrorism in the United States was higher in the early 1970s than it is today. And since 2002, more Americans have been killed by right-wing American terrorists than by Islamic terrorists. It’s true that the rate of violent crime went up between 2014 and 2015, most likely a consequence of the retreat of active policing since Ferguson. But it’s a small uptick in the context of the massive downward trend since 1992.

Read rest of interview here: The United States Is Not an Apocalyptic Wasteland, Explains Steven Pinker
-----------------------

Very interesting interview, and refreshing to hear a guy like Pinker echoing the same things that I've said about Trump, but he explains it much better than I ever could.

I'm sure the 4000 shot and 700 dead in Chicago this year along with the 100+ million on welfare will find this comforting.

^ And this is why Trump won. Facts don't matter to you rubes. Trump played you guys like a fucking violin.

Awwww....Hillary lost....poor snowflake....

 

[BluesLegend]

Someone inform the OP the campaign is over Trump won, he whooped on her bad until she cried.

 

[Kosh]

December 6, 2016 // 10:10 AM EST

Donald Trump’s rise to power was driven in part by an apocalyptic narrative according to which, in a phrase, you are in grave danger. This is consistent with many people’s intuitions about the world, given the ongoing threat of global terrorism, the US’s slow recovery from the Great Recession, and a sense that the Washington establishment is corrupt and doesn’t care about the average citizen’s needs. Is Trump’s apocalypticism right? Are we living in an exceptionally dangerous period of human history? Are these the desperate times that call for desperate measures?

According to the Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, the answer is a resounding No. In his 2011 book The Better Angels of Our Nature, Pinker presents a mountain of evidence showing that violence has been declining for millennia—a trend that has continued through the twentieth century and up to the present. For example, since World War II there have been no major wars between the world’s great powers, a phenomenon dubbed the “Long Peace,” and Pinker argues that the end of the Cold War inaugurated a “New Peace” that’s marked by a worldwide decline of “organized conflicts of all kinds—civil wars, genocides, repression by autocratic governments, and terrorist attacks.”

But will this trend continue in a post-Trump, post-truth world? Pinker is clear in Better Angles that it might not—for instance, there could be accessible “weapons of total destruction” (WTDs) that precipitate a global catastrophe, or authoritarian demagogues that misuse and abuse their political power. To understand what Trump’s victory means for America and, even more, what it means for the future of civilization, I contacted Pinker via email.

Motherboard: Trump has repeatedly painted an apocalyptic picture of contemporary America. He has talked about (black) people getting shot while walking down the street, about terrorists disguising themselves as refugeesfleeing the atrocities of Syria, and about Mexico sending its “criminals” and “rapists” across the southern border. Could you briefly explain why this characterization of the contemporary US is factually wrong?
Steven Pinker: Unfortunately, it’s all too easy for newsreaders to believe that apocalyptic picture. The news media give lavish coverage to violent incidents, seldom follow up on negative reportage in the past, and rarely put events in statistical or historical perspective. Worse, they allow themselves to be played by violence impresarios, namely terrorists and rampage killers, who correctly anticipate that they can attract the world’s attention by killing a number of innocent people at once. This is true not just of tabloids and cable news chasing eyeballs and clicks, but of high-quality outlets who feel that by highlighting what goes wrong, they are discharging their duty as watchdogs, muckrakers, and afflicters of the comfortable.

The facts are as follows. The rate of violent crime is lower now than it was at any time between 1966 and 2009. Immigrants have a lower rate of violent crime than American citizens. Terrorists kill just three-tenths of one percent of all American homicide victims. The rate of death from terrorism in the United States was higher in the early 1970s than it is today. And since 2002, more Americans have been killed by right-wing American terrorists than by Islamic terrorists. It’s true that the rate of violent crime went up between 2014 and 2015, most likely a consequence of the retreat of active policing since Ferguson. But it’s a small uptick in the context of the massive downward trend since 1992.

Read rest of interview here: The United States Is Not an Apocalyptic Wasteland, Explains Steven Pinker
-----------------------

Very interesting interview, and refreshing to hear a guy like Pinker echoing the same things that I've said about Trump, but he explains it much better than I ever could.

I'm sure the 4000 shot and 700 dead in Chicago this year along with the 100+ million on welfare will find this comforting.

^ And this is why Trump won. Facts don't matter to you rubes. Trump played you guys like a fucking violin.

Awwww....Hillary lost....poor snowflake....

 

[BluesLegend]

and it's all rainbow farts and unicorn vaginas

"rainbow farts and unicorn vaginas."

Ladies and gentlemen, I present the prose of the Pete "Angry Turd," the official twat of USMB.

Your irrational rage over losing an election is noted. Tell us, does it fill the void, insulting people? Do you go lay down after feeling satiated that you were able to vent your bile?

 

[Unkotare]

No, it's a dystopian hellhole.

What country do you live in?

 

[Yarddog]

I'm simply citing what you said, you ingrate. If America is in fact what you say it is. Why are you here complaining?

Why? Because I have a cause beyond serving myself. Criticizing the worlds largest slave state goes hand in hand with my life purpose.

Who are you criticizing? Sudan??

 

[SYTFE]

Yeah, I guess this article was a bit "too intellectual" for this crowd. Oh well, the expansion of consciousness can only come in baby steps.