The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

  278. Increasing age of hunters: K. Johnson, “For many youths, hunting loses the battle for attention,” New York Times, Sept. 25, 2010.

  279. Hunting versus watching: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2006.

  280. Locavore hunters: S. Rinella, “Locavore, get your gun,” New York Times, Dec. 14, 2007.

  281. Humane fishing: P. Bodo, “Hookless fly-fishing is a humane advance,” New York Times, Nov. 7, 1999.

  282. No animals were harmed: American Humane Association Film and Television Unit, 2010; http://www.americanhumane.org/protecting-animals/programs/no-animals-were-harmed/.

  283. Not harming animals: American Humane Association Film and Television Unit, 2009.

  284. Exterminator in chief: M. Leibovich, “What’s white, has 132 rooms, and flies?” New York Times, Jun. 18, 2009.

  285. Broiler Chicken Revolution: Herzog, 2010.

  286. More chicken eaten than beef: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, graphed at http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/farm/Per-Cap-Cons-Meat-1.pdf.

  287. Two hundred chickens = 1 cow: Herzog, 2010, p. 193.

  288. Meat without feet: J. Temple, “The no-kill carnivore,” Wired, Feb. 2009.

  289. Three times as many ex-vegetarians: Herzog, 2010, p. 200.

  290. Loose definitions of vegetarianism: Herzog, 2010; C. Stahler, “How many vegetarians are there?” Vegetarian Journal, Jul.–Aug. 1994.

  291. Vegetarianism and eating disorders: Herzog, 2010, pp. 198–99.

  292. Declining consumption of mammals: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, graphed at http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/farm/Per-Cap-Cons-Meat-1.pdf.

  293. Gassing chickens: W. Neuman, “New way to help chickens cross to other side,” New York Times, Oct. 21, 2010.

  294. Eighty percent of Britons want better conditions: 2000 Taylor Nelson Poll for the RSPCA, cited in Vegetarian Society, 2010.

  295. Gallup poll on animal protection: Gallup, 2003.

  296. Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Oregon: N. D. Kristof, “A farm boy reflects,” New York Times, Jul. 31, 2008.

  297. European Union regulations: http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/index_en.htm.

  298. L. Hickman, “The lawyer who defends animals,” Guardian, Mar. 5, 2010.

  299. Poll on animal welfare: Gallup, 2003.

  300. Vegetarianism among Dean activists: “The Dean activists: Their profile and prospects,” Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, 2005, http://people-press.org/report/?pageid=936.

  301. Rethinking human life and death: Singer, 1994.

  302. Hard problem of consciousness: Pinker, 1997, chaps. 2, 8.

  303. Extinguishing carnivores: J. McMahan, “The meat eaters,” New York Times, Sept. 19, 2010.

  304. Leftward shift of conservatism: Nash, 2009, p. 329; Courtwright, 2010.

  305. Fivefold increase in books: Caplow et al., 2001, p. 267.

  306. Catchment area for innovations: Diamond, 1997; Sowell, 1994, 1996, 1998.

  307. “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence”: King, 1963/1995.

  308. Arc of justice: Parker, 1852/2005, “Of Justice and Conscience,” in Ten Sermons of Religion.

  Chapter 8: Inner Demons

  1. Resistance to acknowledging the dark side: See Pinker, 2002.

  2. Terrible twos: Côté et al., 2006.

  3. Tremblay on babies with guns: Quoted in C. Holden, “The violence of the lambs,” Science, 289, 2000, pp. 580–81.

  4. Homicidal fantasies: Kenrick & Sheets, 1994; Buss, 2005, pp. 5–8.

  5. Revenge fantasy: Quoted in Buss, 2005, pp. 6–7.

  6. Special effects: Schechter, 2005, p. 81.

  7. History of violent entertainment: Schechter, 2005.

  8. Fiction as an instruction manual for life: Pinker, 1997, chap. 8. Morbid curiosity about violence: Baumeister, 1997; Tiger, 2006.

  9. Sex and consciousness: Symons, 1979.

  10. Attack cat: Panksepp, 1998, p. 194.

  11. Urge to bite surgeon: Quoted in Hitchcock & Cairns, 1973, pp. 897, 898.

  12. Swearing: Pinker, 2007b, chap. 7.

  13. Soldiers who don’t fire weapons: Collins, 2008; Grossman, 1995; Marshall, 1947/1978.

  14. Problems with claims of nonshooting soldiers: Bourke, 1999; Spiller, 1988.

  15. Boring fights: Collins, 2008.

  16. Ecstasy in battle: Bourke, 1999; Collins, 2008; Thayer, 2004.

  17. Trigger of chimpanzee violence: Wrangham, 1999a.

  18. Violence against violence researchers: Pinker, 2002, chap. 6; Dreger, 2011.

  19. Capacity for evil: Baumeister, 1997; Baumeister & Campbell, 1999.

  20. Narratives of harm: Baumeister, Stillwell, & Wotman, 1990.

  21. Rate of anger: Baumeister et al., 1990.

  22. Harm narratives with harm controlled: Stillwell & Baumeister, 1997.

  23. Self-serving biases: Goffman, 1959; Tavris & Aronson, 2007; Trivers, in press; von Hippel & Trivers, 2011; Kurzban, 2011.

  24. Cognitive dissonance: Festinger, 1957. Lake Wobegon Effect and other positive illusions: Taylor, 1989.

  25. Moral emotions as the basis for cooperation: Haidt, 2002; Pinker, 2008; Trivers, 1971.

  26. Advantages of the Moralization Gap: Baumeister, 1997; Baumeister et al., 1990; Stillwell & Baumeister, 1997.

  27. Self-deception as an adaptation: Trivers, 1976, 1985, in press; von Hippel & Trivers, 2011.

  28. Orwell: Quoted in Trivers, 1985.

  29. Problems with self-deception: Pinker, 2011.

  30. True self-deception: Valdesolo & DeSteno, 2008.

  31. Competing historical narratives: Baumeister, 1997.

  32. Aggrieved Serbs: Baumeister, 1997, pp. 50–51; van Evera, 1994.

  33. Truthiness of Roosevelt’s infamy speech: Mueller, 2006.

  34. Evildoers’ point of view: Baumeister, 1997, chap. 2.

  35. Hitler as an idealist: Baumeister, 1997, chap. 2; Bullock, 1991; Rosenbaum, 1998.

  36. Spree killer: Quoted in J. McCormick & P. Annin, “Alienated, marginal, and deadly,” Newsweek, Sept. 19, 1994.

  37. Serial rapist: Quoted in Baumeister, 1997, p. 41.

  38. Gacy: Quoted in Baumeister, 1997, p. 49.

  39. Crime as social control: Black, 1983. Provocations to domestic violence: Buss, 2005; Collins, 2008; Straus, 1977/1978.

  40. Perspectives of the victim, perpetrator, scientist, and moralist: Baumeister, 1997.

  41. Immorality of explaining the Holocaust: Shermer, 2004, pp. 76–79; Rosenbaum, 1998.

  42. Banality of evil: Arendt, 1963.

  43. Eichmann: Goldhagen, 2009.

  44. Research inspired by Arendt: Milgram, 1974.

  45. Predation versus aggression in mammals: Adams, 2006; Panksepp, 1998.

  46. Sham versus real rage: Panksepp, 1998.

  47. Modularity of motor program versus emotional state: Adams, 2006.

  48. Rage circuit: Panksepp, 1998.

  49. Aggression in the rat: Adams, 2006; Panksepp, 1998.

  50. Pain, frustration, and aggression: Renfrew, 1997, chap. 6.

  51. Orbitofrontal and ventromedial cortex: Damasio, 1994; Fuster, 2008; Jensen et al., 2007; Kringelbach, 2005; Raine, 2008; Scarpa & Raine, 2007; Seymour, Singer, & Dolan, 2007.

  52. Seeking system: Panksepp, 1998.

  53. Self-stimulation: Olds & Milner, 1954.

  54. Offensive versus defensive attacks: Adams, 2006; Panksepp, 1998.

  55. Fear versus rage: Adams, 2006; Panksepp, 1998.

  56. Dominance system: Panksepp, 1998.

  57. Male sexuality and aggressiveness: Panksepp, 1998, p. 199.

  58. Testosterone: Archer, 2006b; Dabbs & Dabbs, 2000; Panksepp, 1998.

  59. Phineas Gage: Damasio, 1994; Macmillan, 2000.

  60. Gage was no longer Gage: Quoted in Macmillan, 2000.

  61. Orbital and ventromedial cortex connected to amygdala: Damasio, 1994; Fuster, 2008; Jensen et al., 2007; Kringelbach, 2005; Raine, 2008; Scarpa & Raine,
2007; Seymour et al., 2007.

  62. Anger at unfairness lights up the insula: Sanfey et al., 2003.

  63. Orbitofrontal versus ventromedial cortex: Jensen et al., 2007; Kringelbach, 2005; Raine, 2008; Seymour et al., 2007.

  64. Modern Phineas Gages: Séguin, Sylvers, & Lilienfeld, 2007, p. 193.

  65. Traits of patients with frontal-lobe damage: Scarpa & Raine, 2007, p. 153.

  66. Brains of psychopaths, murderers, and antisocials: Blair & Cipolotti, 2000; Blair, 2004; Raine, 2008; Scarpa & Raine, 2007.

  67. Orbital lesions affect dominance hierarchies: Séguin et al., 2007, p. 193.

  68. Orbital damage, faux pas, and empathy: Stone, Baron-Cohen, & Knight, 1998.

  69. Orbital damage and shame: Raine et al., 2000.

  70. Mens rea and fMRI: Young & Saxe, 2009.

  71. Theory of mind and temporoparietal junction: Saxe & Kanwisher, 2003.

  72. Crying babies and runaway trolleys: Greene, in press; Greene & Haidt, 2002; Pinker, 2008.

  73. Your brain on morality: Greene, in press; Greene & Haidt, 2002; Greene et al., 2001.

  74. Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: Fuster, 2008.

  75. Taxonomy of violence: Baumeister, 1997.

  76. Adaptations for exploitation: Buss & Duntley, 2008.

  77. Castrating a horse: From F. Zimring, quoted in Kaplan, 1973, p. 23.

  78. Empathy and tracking: Liebenberg, 1990.

  79. Ugandan atrocity: Baumeister, 1997, p. 125.

  80. Psychopaths: Hare, 1993; Lykken, 1995; Mealey, 1995; Raine, 2008; Scarpa & Raine, 2007.

  81. Proportion of psychopaths among violent criminals: G. Miller, “Investigating the psychopathic mind,” Science, Sept. 5, 2008, pp. 1284–86; Hare, 1993; Baumeister, 1997, p. 138.

  82. Psychopaths’ brains: Raine, 2008.

  83. Heritability of psychopathic symptoms: Hare, 1993; Lykken, 1995; Mealey, 1995; Raine, 2008. Psychopathy as a cheater strategy: Kinner, 2003; Lalumière, Harris, & Rice, 2001; Mealey, 1995; Rice, 1997.

  84. Psychopaths in genocides and civil wars: Mueller, 2004a; Valentino, 2004.

  85. Backsliding into emotional categories: Cosmides & Tooby, 1992; Pinker, 2007b, chaps. 5 and 9.

  86. Disgust, hatred, anger: Tooby & Cosmides, 2010.

  87. Positive illusions: Johnson, 2004; Tavris & Aronson, 2007; Taylor, 1989.

  88. Self-deception and lie detection: von Hippel & Trivers, 2011.

  89. Advantages of self-deception: Trivers, 1976, in press; von Hippel & Trivers, 2011.

  90. Churchill: Quoted in Johnson, 2004, p. 1.

  91. Deluded war leaders: Luard, 1986, pp. 204, 212, 268–69.

  92. Initiators often lose their wars: Johnson, 2004, p. 4; Lindley & Schildkraut, 2005; Luard, 1986, p. 268.

  93. Military incompetence as self-deception: Wrangham, 1999b.

  94. War game: Johnson et al., 2006.

  95. Groupthink in the Bush administration: K. Alter, “Is Groupthink driving us to war?” Boston Globe, Sept. 21, 2002.

  96. Groupthink: Janis, 1982.

  97. Logic of trivial altercations: Daly & Wilson, 1988, p. 127.

  98. Logic of dominance: Daly & Wilson, 1988; Dawkins, 1976/1989; Maynard Smith, 1988.

  99. Alliances in dominance: Boehm, 1999; de Waal, 1998.

  100. Displays in dominance: Dawkins, 1976/1989; Maynard Smith, 1988.

  101. Common knowledge: Chwe, 2001; Lee & Pinker, 2010; Lewis, 1969; Pinker, 2007b.

  102. Culture of honor predicts violence: Brezina, Agnew, Cullen, & Wright, 2004.

  103. Audience effect: Felson, 1982; Baumeister, 1997, pp. 155–56. See also McCullough, 2008; McCullough, Kurzban, & Tabak, 2010.

  104. Dominance and group size: Baumeister, 1997, p. 167.

  105. Forgiveness in primates: de Waal, 1996; McCullough, 2008.

  106. Forgiveness only among kin or cooperators: McCullough, 2008.

  107. Chimps don’t reconcile across community lines: Van der Dennen, 2005; Wrangham & Peterson, 1996; Wrangham et al., 2006.

  108. Men more obsessed by status: Browne, 2002; Susan M. Pinker, 2008; Rhoads, 2004.

  109. Men take more risks: Byrnes, Miller, & Schafer, 1999; Daly & Wilson, 1988; Johnson, 2004; Johnson et al., 2006; Rhoads, 2004.

  110. Labor economists and gender gaps: Browne, 2002; Susan M. Pinker, 2008; Rhoads, 2004.

  111. Gender gap in violence: Archer, 2006b, 2009; Buss, 2005; Daly & Wilson, 1988; Geary, 2010; Goldstein, 2001.

  112. Biological basis of sex difference: Geary, 2010; Pinker, 2002, chap. 18; Archer, 2009; Blum, 1997; Browne, 2002; Halpern, 2000.

  113. Relational aggression: Geary, 2010; Crick, Ostrov, & Kawabata, 2007.

  114. Dominance and sex appeal: Buss, 1994; Daly & Wilson, 1988; Ellis, 1992; Symons, 1979.

  115. Ancient perquisites of dominance: Betzig, 1986; Betzig, Borgerhoff Mulder, & Turke, 1988.

  116. Modern sex appeal of dominance: Buss, 1994; Ellis, 1992.

  117. Sex differences in the brain: Blum, 1997; Geary, 2010; Panksepp, 1998.

  118. Guyness: N. Angier, “Does testosterone equal aggression? Maybe not,” New York Times, Jun. 20, 1995.

  119. Testosterone and challenge: Archer, 2006b; Dabbs & Dabbs, 2000; Johnson et al., 2006; McDermott, Johnson, Cowden, & Rosen, 2007.

  120. Parenting versus mating effort: Buss, 1994; Buss & Schmitt, 1993.

  121. Paradox of greater risk-taking in youth: Daly & Wilson, 2005.

  122. Violence over the life cycle: Daly & Wilson, 1988, 2000; Rogers, 1994.

  123. The self-esteem myth: Baumeister, 1997; Baumeister, Smart, & Boden, 1996.

  124. “multitalented superachievers”: Quoted in Baumeister, 1997, p. 144.

  125. Explaining Hitler: Rosenbaum, 1998, p. xii.

  126. Narcissistic personality disorder in DSM-IV: American Psychiatric Association, 2000.

  127. Narcissism, borderline, and psychopathic disorders in tyrants: Bullock, 1991; Oakley, 2007; Shermer, 2004. See also Chirot, 1994; Glover, 1999.

  128. Social identity: Brown, 1985; Pratto, Sidanius, & Levin, 2006; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999; Tajfel, 1981; Tooby, Cosmides, & Price, 2006.

  129. Mood and sports teams: Brown, 1985.

  130. Testosterone after a sports match: Archer, 2006b; Dabbs & Dabbs, 2000; McDermott et al., 2007.

  131. Testosterone after an election: Stanton et al., 2009.

  132. In-group favoritism: Brown, 1985; Hewstone, Rubin, & Willis, 2002; Pratto et al., 2006; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999; Tajfel, 1981.

  133. Little racists: Aboud, 1989. Babies, race, and accent: Kinzler, Shutts, DeJesus, & Spelke, 2009.

  134. Social dominance: Pratto et al., 2006; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999.

  135. Races versus coalitions: Kurzban, Tooby, & Cosmides, 2001; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999.

  136. Accent and prejudice: Tucker & Lambert, 1969; Kinzler et al., 2009.

  137. Ressentiment: Chirot, 1994, chap. 12; Goldstein, 2001, p. 409; Baumeister, 1997, p. 152.

  138. German ressentiment: Chirot, 1994, chap. 12; Goldstein, 2001, p. 409; Baumeister, 1997.

  139. Islamic ressentiment: Fattah & Fierke, 2009.

  140. Hollandization: Mueller, 1989.

  141. Skepticism about ancient hatreds: Brown, 1997; Fearon & Laitin, 1996; Fearon & Laitin, 2003; Lacina, 2006; Mueller, 2004a; van Evera, 1994.

  142. Number of languages: Pinker, 1994, chap. 8.

  143. Ethnic comity in the developed world: Brown, 1997.

  144. Policing loose cannons: Fearon & Laitin, 1996.

  145. Rubegoldbergian governments: Asal & Pate, 2005; Bell, 2007b; Brown, 1997; Mnookin, 2007; Sowell, 2004; Tyrrell, 2007. Rugby team as national unifier: Carlin, 2008.

  146. Identity and violence: Appiah, 2006; Sen, 2006.

  147. Men at both ends of racism: Pratto et al., 2006; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999; Sidanius & Veniegas, 2000.

  148. War and Gender: Goldstein, 2001.

  149. Queens who waged war: Luard, 1986, p. 194.

  150. War as a man??
?s game: Gottschall, 2008.

  151. Feminism and pacifism: Goldstein, 2001; Mueller, 1989.

  152. Gender gap in opinion polls: Goldstein, 2001, pp. 329–30.

  153. Gender gap in presidential elections: “Exit polls, 1980–2008,” New York Times, http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/exit-polls.html.

  154. Gender gap smaller than society gap: Goldstein, 2001, pp. 329–30.

  155. Feminist gap in the Middle East: Goldstein, 2001, pp. 329–30.

  156. Treatment of women and war across cultures: Goldstein, 2001, pp. 396–99.

  157. Women and war in modern countries: Goldstein, 2001, p. 399.

  158. Women’s empowerment and rootless men: Hudson & den Boer, 2002; Potts & Hayden, 2008.

  159. Dominance jargon: Google Books, analyzed by Bookworm (see the caption to figure 7–1), Michel et al., 2011.

  160. Glorious and honorable: Google Books, analyzed by Bookworm (see the caption to figure 7–1), Michel et al., 2011.

  161. “glow in our eyes”: Quoted in Daly & Wilson, 1988, p. 228.

  162. “developing wings”: Quoted in J. Diamond, “Vengeance is ours,” New Yorker, Apr. 21, 2008.

  163. “hot with . . . joy”: Quoted in Daly & Wilson, 1988, p. 230.

  164. Universality of revenge: McCullough, 2008, pp. 74–76; Daly & Wilson, 1988, pp. 221–27. Revenge in tribal warfare: Chagnon, 1997; Daly & Wilson, 1988; Keeley, 1996; Wiessner, 2006.

  165. Revenge in homicides, shootings, bombings: McCullough et al., 2010.

  166. Revenge in terrorism, riots, and wars: Atran, 2003; Horowitz, 2001; Mueller, 2006.

  167. Declaring war in anger: Luard, 1986, p. 269.

  168. Cataclysmic fury: G. Prange, quoted in Mueller, 2006, p. 59.

  169. Alternatives to reprisal not considered after Pearl Harbor or 9/11: Mueller, 2006.

  170. Bin Laden: “Full text: Bin Laden’s ‘Letter to America,’ ” Observer, Nov. 24, 2002; http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver.

  171. Revenge fantasies: Buss, 2005; Kenrick & Sheets, 1994.

  172. Revenge in the lab: McCullough, 2008.

  173. Drinking to salve frustrated revenge: Giancola, 2000.

  174. Rage circuit: Panksepp, 1998.

  175. Anger in the insula: Sanfey et al., 2003.

  176. Neuroscience of revenge: de Quervain et al., 2004.

  177. Neuroscience of revenge, empathy, and gender: Singer et al., 2006.