The Decline Of Violence

[burn_this_city]

Edmonton sure didn't help the cause.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by troutman

Canada's Homicide Rate Declines To 44-Year Low

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/10...n_1032646.html

See! This is exactly why we need more mega prisons!

[Azure]

Just goes to confirm the study that effective social programs do more to combat violence than a gun registry or ridiculous crime bills ever will.

Sent from my SGH-T959D using Tapatalk

[troutman]

Don't say that at a Rob Anders Town Hall meeting.

[WesternCanadaKing]

Originally Posted by troutman

Canada's Homicide Rate Declines To 44-Year Low

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/10...n_1032646.html

Author (Steven Pinker) from OP on Colbert:

http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the...rt/#clip554968

Love that interview
Pinker: We're living in the most peaceful time in human history.
Colbert: That's amazing, you know we should write that on all our bombs.

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by troutman

Don't say that at a Rob Anders Town Hall meeting.

I've been very tempted lots of times to go to a Rob Anders town hall meeting just to make fun of all his ideological stands, particularly whenever I drive by one of his billboards or see one of his newsletters.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by troutman

To what extent has sports replaced inherent aggression? Instead of sending soldiers to combat the other, we send athletes.

Jonathan!! Jonathan!! Jonathn!!

[longsuffering]

Originally Posted by peter12

This is a very complicated question, yet I am struck by the simplicity, and naivete of Pinker's methods. Does he really think it's all convincing to look at victims of violence as an overall decreasing percentage over human history? Is this some sort of joke?

I am almost certain, knowing Pinker through his other books, that this is exactly it, and all that he did. If you read the literature of human violence, especially Thucydides, you find that the conditions of violence are constant: self-interest, fear, and a desire for glory. This is the cause of every human conflict, be it a mugging, or a world war.

The conditions for decreasing violence depend upon a fragile foundation, namely the spread of globalization, material wealth, and cultural pluralism. Due to technology, and its efficiency, we (meaning the West) has managed to do this to a degree unprecedented by imperial civilizations that have come before us. Yet, the events of this century, filled with mankind's greatest horrors (like a good social scientist, I am sure Pinker dismisses the Holocaust as an externality), must make us reflect on the overall thesis of Pinker's utopian futurism, and most likely reject it.

You clearly think you're MUCH smarter than the naive Mr. Pinker - a lowly Harvard professor. I'm certain your credentials are MUCH more impressive. What are they again? And when is your book on the this topic begin published?

Wait, you never read the book and you're simply being your usual pseudo-intellectual, condescending self?

Carry on then.

[freedogger]

Here's a TED talk from Pinker

Steven Pinker charts the decline of violence from Biblical times to the present, and argues that, though it may seem illogical and even obscene, given Iraq and Darfur, we are living in the most peaceful time in our species' existence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ramBFRt1Uzk

[Daradon]

Yeah this guy was on Cobert last week. Fun interview. But it makes sense. I think it's just the media that makes it seem like violence is everywhere.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Daradon

Yeah this guy was on Cobert last week. Fun interview. But it makes sense. I think it's just the media that makes it seem like violence is everywhere.

Good point. The internet especially lets us keep up with every single violent incident in the world.

[troutman]

Iceman Murder Mystery

A new forensic investigation of a 5,000-year-old mummy reconstructs his death and reveals an ancient way of life. Aired October 26, 2011 on PBS

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient...r-mystery.html

Anecdotal, but perhaps gives credence to the notion that people were more likely to be murdered 5,000 years ago. Iceman was shot in the back with an arrow. They theorize he was killed by someone he knew, as he had just eaten a large meal.

[Azure]

TORONTO — The president of the Coalition for Gun Control says new data from Statistics Canada reinforces what she's been telling the Harper government for years -- that the long gun registry saves lives.

StatsCan reported the next day that in 2009, the number of Canadian homicides involving rifles or shotguns had fallen to just one-fifth of what they were 30 years ago.

http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/lo...b=EdmontonHome

No, no, no.

You're dumb, now please shut the hell up.

Funny how all the morons are coming out of the woodwork now that the Conservative government is tabling bills for all the cuts they are making, and all the programs they will shut down.

I would like to make a case that the homicide rate has been dropping, and it is mostly because the Canucks have only made it to the final 2 times in the past 30 years. If they would make it to the finals more often, chances are the homicide rate in Canada would be a lot higher, given how Canuck fans love to riot.

[CaptainCrunch]

I guess the question is, how many of the homicides using rifles and shotguns were performed with unregistered or illegal weapons at the start of the 5 years and at the end.

While what she is saying from an arguments standpoint might have merit, I think she's using a very simplistic view of the stats.

In order to show value, she needs to prove that the program actually saved lives in that area of control.

For all we know the homicides decreased because of the increase in focus on city gang violence where they're using prohibited on stolen or illegal weapons.

I think that the actual gun violence that occurs like our farmer friend where they use their own legal, registered weapons are probably are fairly low percentage of overall gun violence.

But I'm guessing like she is.

[Azure]

Just because the results say that our homicide rate has dropped doesn't in any way suggest that the gun registry is the reason. She is taking an extremely simplistic viewpoint. Homicide rates drop because you fix the actual reason that they occur. That reason usually being poverty which often creates drug use as well as gangs and the subsequent violence that comes with.

If you give people somewhere else to turn to for help more often than not they will stay away from getting involved in criminal activities.

It is no surprise that a study came out showing that effective social programs do more to combat crime than gun registries or strict crime bills.

Sent from my SGH-T959D using Tapatalk

[CaptainCrunch]

Which must drive some people crazy since the Conservatives have been in government for more then 5 years.

Ducks to avoid the rotten lettuce heads.

[Dogbert]

This is good news in 99.9% of scenarios. It's the other 0.1% that concerns me.

[GirlySports]

How does China STILL have over a billion people after all that!?