A History Of Violence Steven Pinker Analysis

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In “A History of Violence,” Steven Pinker argues that violence continues to diminish. Pinker goes as far back as biblical times to prove evidence of our vicious past. He even analyzes murder rates from present day compared to the fourteenth century to find the present day completely outnumbered. Kings and Queens of sixteenth-century Paris watched cats being strangled and burned for entertainment. All examples from this essay show the violence that mankind was once accustomed to.
As Pinker shows comparisons from the past to show a decrease in violence, he crafts this essay with complete precision. He introduces this essay with one of the most immoral acts you could think of, the torturing of a cat. This introduction snatches the reader’s attention

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