This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bet... 00:01:10 1 Thesis 00:05:06 2 Outline of the book 00:05:50 2.1 Six trends of declining violence (Chapters 2 through 7) 00:09:17 2.2 Five inner demons (Chapter 8) 00:11:13 2.3 Four better angels (Chapter 9) 00:12:32 3 Influences 00:14:20 4 Reception 00:14:29 4.1 Praise 00:22:18 4.2 Criticism 00:37:17 5 Awards and honors 00:37:53 6 Media 00:38:40 7 See also Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago. Learning by listening is a great way to: increases imagination and understanding improves your listening skills improves your own spoken accent learn while on the move reduce eye strain Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone. Listen on Google Assistant through Extra Audio: https://assistant.google.com/services... Other Wikipedia audio articles at: https://www.youtube.com/results?searc... Upload your own Wikipedia articles through: https://github.com/nodef/wikipedia-tts Speaking Rate: 0.9036190744875634 Voice name: en-GB-Wavenet-C "I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think." Socrates SUMMARY ======= The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined is a 2011 book by Steven Pinker, in which the author argues that violence in the world has declined both in the long run and in the short run and suggests explanations as to why this has occurred. The book contains a wealth of data simply documenting declining violence across time and geography. This paints a picture of massive declines in violence of all forms, from war, to improved treatment of children. He highlights the role of nation-state monopolies on force, of commerce (making "other people become more valuable alive than dead"), of increased literacy and communication (promoting empathy), as well as a rise in a rational problem-solving orientation as possible causes of this decline in violence. He notes that, paradoxically, our impression of violence has not tracked this decline, perhaps because of increased communication, and that further decline is not inevitable, but is contingent on forces harnessing our better motivations such as empathy and increases in reason.