(The Humanitarian Revolution) of Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... Body. First, the people prioritized understanding the other communities’ culture. Previously, the people’s priorities focused on imposing their culture on other communities or individuals. The cultures include banishing smoking offices and classrooms (Pinker 265). The governments opened up to learn the cultures of the different communities, practicing tolerance and cooperation among nations. The communities prioritized entering into economic partnerships, instead of war. The communities exchange educational information to help uplift the other communities’ economic and social status. First, the spirit of enlightenment reduced the war incidences. Steven Pinker shows pictures of different Middle Age torture methods. The laws ban such practices today (Pinker 212). Dubos emphasized that the Age of Enlightenment ushered in the spirit of reasoning. The age trained people to use philosophy concepts to explain everyday actions or non-actions. The people preferred to dissect the reasons behind each activity. Consequently, the people use consequentialism concepts to explain why one activity is correct or not correct. For example, the people reasoned that a person’s actions or non-actions contribute to the outcome of one or more events. For example, the people reasoned that smoking contributes to the higher occurrences of lung cancer. Similarly, the enlightenment theories stated drinking too much brandy makes one drowsy. Consequently, the drowsy car driver will have higher chances of meeting traffic accidents. Likewise, the same Pinker enlightenment concept states that a person who drives slowly and carefully will have lower probabilities of being involved in a car accident. Second, the people’s priority to focus on laws reduced the tendency to prioritize torture, and other wars. 18th century England criticized the murders and tortures as cruelties that should be avoided (Pinker 231). The people preferred to file cases in courts. The courts would settle the differences between the two opposing parties. The people did not take the law into their own hands. The people are governed by laws and not by might. Consequently, the relied on the court judges to settle their grievances. Third, the people were more civilized. The people focused moral issues. In fact, Russia’s torture acts dropped to zero in 1850 (Pinker 234).The people preferred exchanges of ideas instead of physically maiming people of other communities. Being civilized includes controlling one’s animalistic instincts. The animalistic instincts include killing another person without remorse. Animalistic killing includes murdering an innocent passer-by just for the thrill. Animalistic killing includes hurting other individuals in order to abuse the rights of the innocent victim. A civilized society is one that is organized. Organized society includes democratic compliance with the statutes, policies, and other laws. A civilized society is one that has a clear cultural temperament. For example, the African Americans have their own unique culture. Third, the people’s penchant for education reduced the desire to maim or kill strangers or other communities. The books that were published during the 1800s reached an unprecedentedly higher 7,000 books (Pinker 269). The governments strived to educate their young to be peace loving individuals by publishing many books. The Pinker topic shows that groups focused on helping ...Download file to see next pagesRead More