IT大佬们的书单——比尔.盖茨推荐《人性中的善良天使》

内容简介  

 

Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think we live in the most violent age ever seen. Yet as New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing for millennia and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species's existence. For most of history, war, slavery, infanticide, child abuse, assassinations, pogroms, gruesome punishments, deadly quarrels, and genocide were ordinary features of life. But today, Pinker shows (with the help of more than a hundred graphs and maps) all these forms of violence have dwindled and are widely condemned. How has this happened?

 

      面对源源不断的战争、犯罪、恐怖主义，我们会很容易地认为我们正生活在有史以来最为暴力的时代。然而，纽约时报的畅销书作者斯蒂芬.平克在这本惊人又吸引人的新作品中告诉我们，事实恰恰相反：几千年来，暴力正在消逝，我们可能正生活在有人类以来最为和平的时代。在过去的大部分时代里，战争、奴役、杀婴、虐待儿童、暗杀、大屠杀、可怕的惩罚、致命的争端和种族灭绝是很普遍的。但今天，平克告诉我们（在超过一百张的图表和地图的帮助下），以上所有形式的暴力已经减少并受到广泛的谴责。这是如何发生的？

 

This groundbreaking book continues Pinker's exploration of the essence of human nature, mixing psychology and history to provide a remarkable picture of an increasingly nonviolent world. The key, he explains, is to understand our intrinsic motives- the inner demons that incline us toward violence and the better angels that steer us away-and how changing circumstances have allowed our better angels to prevail. Exploding fatalist myths about humankind's inherent violence and the curse of modernity, this ambitious and provocative book is sure to be hotly debated in living rooms and the Pentagon alike, and will challenge and change the way we think about our society.

 

      这本有着突破性观点的书，继续着平克对人性本质的探索，结合心理学和历史，给读者描绘了一个越来越不暴力的世界。平克解释说，问题的关键是了解人类的内在动机——内心的恶魔是如何引导我们走向暴力的，而内心中善良的一面又是如何让我们转变的——和改变中的大环境是如何让人类内心中善良的一面占主导的。推翻了人性本恶和现代社会造恶的宿命论，这本大胆而挑衅的书必将引起最广泛地讨论，并挑战和改变我们思考社会的方式。

 

作者简介  

 

Steven Pinker is one of the world's leading authorities on language and the mind. His popular and highly praised books include Words and Rules, How the Mind Works, and The Language Instinct. The recipient of several major awards for his teaching and scientific research, Pinker is Peter de Florez professor of psychology in the department of brain and cognitive sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.