Peace is Possible – in an increasingly enlightened world
Our hearts have been having with all the recent shootings and the war. With this in mind and all the divisiveness in the country, it is easy to think that it’s all going to hell. But I know better. So I brought this talk, Peace is Possible, by Jack Kornfield, to our meditation group to listen to and discuss. As we talked about before, it is important to refer to our safe elders, people who have been in war, experienced torture, or illness or other human suffering. It’s also important for self care in these dark times.
In case you missed the talk and discussion with us, you can find Jack’s talk here :
He also referred to the work of Stephen Pinker -Harvard anthropologist and philosopher. He wrote the book, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Students were interested in his work so I am posting it here.
In it he shows Why Violence Has Declined,
I have been updating my graphs on national and global trends in violence of all forms, and pressing the case that theory, commentary, punditry, and other opinions on the state of the world should be based on quantitative evidence rather than anecdotes, headlines, and other traps for the Availability bias.
Believe it or not, today we may be living in the most peaceful moment in our species’ existence. In his gripping and controversial new work, New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows that despite the ceaseless news about war, crime, and terrorism, violence has actually been in decline over long stretches of history. Exploding myths about humankind’s inherent violence and the curse of modernity, this ambitious book continues Pinker’s exploration of the essence of human nature, mixing psychology and history to provide a remarkable picture of an increasingly enlightened world.
-Fern
