Key insights

• 📷 Images from the 20th century have shaped our understanding of history
• 🌍 Common understanding suggests that modernity has brought terrible violence
• 🔍 Evidence contradicts the peaceful past and violent modernity narrative
• ⬇️ Violence has been in decline over time, especially in the West
• ⏳ Decline of violence is observable over different time scales
• 🏺 Archaeological evidence challenges the idea of primordial harmony among hunter-gatherers
• ⚔️ High rates of death at the hands of another man in foraging societies
• 🌐 Comparison of tribal warfare death rates with those of the United States and Europe in the 20th century
• 📜 Examination of violence in early civilizations and the Bible
• 🏰 Reduction in socially sanctioned violence from the Middle Ages to modern times

Q&A

• How has the circle of moral consideration expanded over history in relation to the decline of violence?

  The circle of moral consideration has expanded over history, including other races, both sexes, and other sentient species. The expansion has been powered by increasing circles of reciprocity, cosmopolitanism, and technology.

• What theories explain the decline of violence?

  Different theories explain the decline of violence: Leviathan theory, rise of centralized states, higher value on life, nonzero-sum games, and evolution of empathy.

• Why has violence declined over time despite changing standards?

  Violence has declined over time despite changing standards; explanations include the logic of anarchy, fear of retaliation, and deterrence. Today, our perception of capital punishment reflects lower behavior rather than higher standards.

• What are some examples of the decline of violence over time?

  Violence has decreased significantly over time, with homicide rates dropping from the Middle Ages to the present, a decline in interstate wars, ethnic riots, and military coups since 1945, and a reversal of the uptick in homicide and violent crime since the 1960s.

• How has the decline of violence been observed over different time scales?

  The decline of violence is a fractal phenomenon observable over millennia, centuries, decades, and years. It has been prevalent in various societies with a significant reduction in socially sanctioned violence over time.

• What does the evidence suggest about the common understanding of history as peaceful past and violent modernity?

  The common understanding of history as a peaceful past and violent modernity is wrong. Evidence suggests that our ancestors were far more violent, but violence has declined over time, especially evident in the West starting around the Enlightenment.

• 00:25 The common understanding of history as a peaceful past and violent modernity is wrong. Evidence suggests that our ancestors were far more violent, but violence has declined over time, especially evident in the West starting around the Enlightenment. The decline of violence is a fractal phenomenon observable over millennia, centuries, decades, and years.
• 03:39 Violence has been prevalent in various societies, with a significant reduction in socially sanctioned violence over time.
• 06:40 Violence has decreased significantly over time, with homicide rates dropping from the Middle Ages to the present, a decline in interstate wars, ethnic riots, and military coups since 1945, and a reversal of the uptick in homicide and violent crime since the 1960s.
• 09:58 Violence has declined over time despite changing standards; explanations include the logic of anarchy, fear of retaliation, and deterrence. Today, our perception of capital punishment reflects lower behavior rather than higher standards.
• 12:58 Different theories explain the decline of violence: Leviathan theory, rise of centralized states, higher value on life, nonzero-sum games, and evolution of empathy.
• 16:18 The circle of moral consideration has expanded over history, including other races, both sexes, and other sentient species. The expansion has been powered by increasing circles of reciprocity, cosmopolitanism, and technology. The decline of violence has profound implications, prompting us to ask why there is peace and what we have been doing right.