The human capacity for compassion is not a reflex that is triggered au…

Steven Pinker
216 citations
The human capacity for compassion is not a reflex that is triggered automatically by the presence of another living thing. ✨ Steven Pinker (2011). The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, p.203, Penguin
Humanity Life Love
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All of the violence that doesn't occur doesn't get reported on the news. ✨ War And Violence On The Decline In Modern Times. Talk of the Nation with Neal Conan, www.npr.org. October 8, 2012.
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People know there is a difference between what you do and what you accept. There is a difference between me knowing that people swear, me hearing people swear and me swearing, and everyone accepting … ▶
You could think of an ecosystem as a bunch of antagonistic arms races, almost: Everything that an animal depends upon for food is the body part of some other animal or plant who would just as soon ke … ▶
The fact that people can forget these simple truths when intellectualizing about children shows how far modern doctrines have taken us. They make it easy to think of children as lumps of putty to be … ▶

The human capacity for compassion is not a reflex that is triggered automatically by the presence of another living thing. ✨ Steven Pinker (2011). The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, p.203, Penguin

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