1

I thought I recently read about a book arguing that trends in warfare, when you use the right statistics on the right timescales, do not show a clear decline over time. The book was characterized as effectively a rebuttal to Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of our Nature. Now I cannot remember where I read about it and Google is not helping me find it. Is there such a book?

The recollection I have is that the source was talking about a book, published in the past year or two, written by an author I wasn't familiar with, which rules out a paper by Taleb and Cirillo. If no positive answers are forthcoming, though, then that paper combined with my inaccurate recollection is the way to bet.

For what it's worth, I am a fan of Pinker's book, but I think a serious contrary response that goes beyond critiquing Pinker's analysis would be interesting.

|improve this question
  • 1
    Might it be John Gray’s The Soul of the Marionette? Or Nassim Taleb’s The Decline of Violent Conflicts? – Denis de Bernardy Oct 21 '19 at 8:06
  • No and no. Gray's book, to judge by the reviews, is a very different kind of book; and think I would have remembered if the author were Taleb. But perhaps I should read them anyway? – Mark Foskey Oct 21 '19 at 15:08
  • Anyway, Taleb's point would surely have been different: His view is that the frequency of violent conflicts is largely irrelevant. What matters is the chance of a massively destructive conflict. – C Monsour Oct 21 '19 at 16:44
  • But just in case, Taleb's coauthor on the paper Denis cites is Pasquale Cirillo. – C Monsour Oct 21 '19 at 16:47
  • 4
    @MarkFoskey Please don't reply in comments. The question should contain all the information. Questions with long comment strings are less likely to get answered, more likely to get closed, and very likely to have comments purged. – Mark C. Wallace♦ Oct 21 '19 at 17:45

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.