What books did you read in 2011?

[KrazyHorse]

I just realized that I can now essentially keep track of everything I read because I only read things purchased through Amazon (I don't buy physical books when the kindle edition is available). In chronological order:

Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the FinancialSystem--and Themselves
The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies
All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis
The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All The Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History,Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better
New Ideas from Dead Economists: An Introduction to Modern Economic Thought
The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance
Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco
Plague of Pythons
Tunnel in the Sky
Hyperion
The Fall of Hyperion
Surface Detail
This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly
The Hard SF Renaissance
The New Space Opera 2
The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge
The Peace War
Marooned in Realtime
Engineering Infinity
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Eighth Annual Collection
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Sixth Annual Collection
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-First Annual Collection: No. 21
Halting State
Rule 34
The Golden Age of Science Fiction: An Anthology of 50 Short Stories
The Science Fiction Megapack: 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories
The Frozen Sky
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
Lucifer's Hammer
The Golden Age of Science Fiction Volume III: An Anthology of 50 Short Stories
The Golden Age of Science Fiction Volume II: An Anthology of 50 Short Stories
The Golden Age of Science Fiction Volume IV: An Anthology of 50 Short Stories
The Golden Age of Science Fiction Volume V: An Anthology of 50 Short Stories
Race Against The Machine: How the Digital Revolution is Accelerating Innovation, Driving Productivity, and Irreversibly Transforming Employment and the Economy
The Golden Age of Science Fiction Volume VI: An Anthology of 50 Short Stories
Launching The Innovation Renaissance: A New Path to Bring Smart Ideas to Market Fast
A Great Leap Forward: 1930s Depression and U.S. Economic Growth
Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure

38 books; not bad (well, a few are kindle singles, so are not full-fledged books).

First book of 2012:
The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

[Al B. Sure!]

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

[KrazyHorse]

You're an idiot. The long term trend of a decline of violence is evident to even the most dull individuals.

[Tupac Shakur]

To be fair, all Alby knows is Philly, the one place in America where violence will never decline. The animals threw batteries at Santa Claus, for god's sake.

[Al B. Sure!]

You're an idiot. The long term trend of a decline of violence is evident to even the most dull individuals.

How is violence being measured? If it is in violent deaths, what role do improvements in medicine play? Are other forms of violence being accounted for? What about unreported crimes? Is violence being considered from state-sources [which was surely higher in the past of the Western world] and are wartime casualties being included? What are modern violence rates being compared to? What is being used to represent 'traditional' violence rates? How significant is the differentiation in violence rates between areas today (for example, Brussels vs. Camden, NJ vs. Capetown vs. Bogota) and how do they compare with violence differentials in the past?

Taken as a sum, I'm sure violence has decreased if only because the State is typically no longer slaughtering the population and instead has become more effective against rogue criminals, but Pinker appears to be making a dangerous presentation that probably hides the high violence disparity between, let's say Western Europe, and the Third World.

[KrazyHorse]

albie, one of the many reasons you're a failure in life is that you have no sense of perspective. The long term trend towards peacefulness is massive and well-documented, and isn't subject to whatever clever quibbles you think you've come up with. There is no argument about it by any other than those, like yourself, who are utter ignoramuses.

[Al B. Sure!]

albie, one of the many reasons you're a failure in life is that you have no sense of perspective. The long term trend towards peacefulness is massive and well-documented, and isn't subject to whatever clever quibbles you think you've come up with. There is no argument about it by any other than those, like yourself, who are utter ignoramuses.

It's 3:38 in the morning. If I were to go for a night-time walk right now in my neighborhood, I will get robbed. It's a certainty.

I can't imagine what strolling through Rio at 3 in the morning would be like.

[Al B. Sure!]

State-sanctioned violence is way way way down in the developed world. State policing (probably helped by surveillance and the media) is also far far far more effective than it's ever been in the developed world. The existence of a legal structure for civil grievances in the developed world means no more duels, blood feuds, etc.

But developed world.

18th century Mexico City was probably no more violent than 18th century Paris. Compare them today, though, and the disparity is huge.

I sincerely hope Pinker addresses that while the overall or average violence may have declined, the disparity is greater than it probably has ever been. Which is why I laugh at this concept that 'the better angels' of human nature have triumphed.

You go walk the streets of Bogota and tell us of 'better angels', Mr. Pinker.

[Egbert]

You go walk the streets of Bogota and tell us of 'better angels', Mr. Pinker.

Or better still, KH could walk the streets of Mogadishu (or Johannesburg after dark) and then tell us about his peaceful and lovey-dovey stroll.

[Aeson]

Do we count violence in video games? The murder rates in America's Army are often well over 10 per capita per day. I often got my whole team before they could even jump out of the airplane... (saves more of the enemy for me!)

[Egbert]

It's 3:38 in the morning. If I were to go for a night-time walk right now in my neighborhood, I will get robbed. It's a certainty.

I can't imagine what strolling through Rio at 3 in the morning would be like.

I can walk in my neighbourhood at 3.38 AM (or any other time) with virtually no chance of getting robbed.

[Egbert]

Do we count violence in video games? The murder rates in America's Army are often well over 1000% per day.

I destroyed an entire planet in a video game last week. A big heavily populated planet filled with aliens. Does xenocide in a video game count as violence?

[Al B. Sure!]

I hope KH realizes I understand Pinker's point and it's correct in an objective and global way. I was going to leave it with a in the context of my thread about homicides on new years, but since he wanted to call me stupid, I explained. I get that Pinker is correct, but I also get that you can be right but still be wrong. I'm sure the disparities in violence are astronomical today whereas they were probably nonexistent in the past. Most of the human population do not live in conditions that would be deemed safe by anyone in the developed world today. Pinker is spreading a dangerous idea.

[a.kitman]

Pinker is spreading a dangerous idea.

that humans arent inherently evil?

[Al B. Sure!]

that humans arent inherently evil?

It's a flimsy house that the peace of the developed world resides in. It is at the mercy of the benevolence of the state, the effectiveness of the legal system, etc.