What I Believe: About Civilization

As Steven Pinker proved convincingly in Enlightenment Now, the world has been getting more civilized almost non-stop for hundreds of years. And that means, in terms of population percentages, greater wealth, higher education, better health, longer lifespans, less poverty, less crime, and less danger generally.

All of that is ostensibly good. But there is a side to it that is rarely talked about: When life becomes easier and safer, people become less tenacious because they fear less and expect more. In other words, in making the world a better place to live, civilization makes the world’s denizens weaker.