How long does it take to read The Better Angels of Our Nature?
The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker takes about 14 hours 42 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 14 hours 42 minutes
A week or two of reading
First published 2011. 802 pages, about 220,550 words.
30 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 24 hours 30 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 14 hours 42 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 9 hours 11 minutes |
The page count is the median across 10 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Steven Pinker's 2011 book argues that violence has fallen over the short and the long run, and it sets out to explain why. Drawing on data from different periods and places, it traces sharp drops in violence of every kind, from warfare to the treatment of children. Pinker points to several possible causes: states that hold a monopoly on force, commerce that makes people worth more alive than dead, growing literacy and communication that foster empathy, and a more rational, problem-solving outlook. He also considers why people's perceptions fail to match the trend, and whether the decline can continue.
This summary was written by AI and checked by a second AI model. How these are chosen.
Subjects: Social aspects, Nonviolence, Violence, Psychological aspects, Social aspects of Violence, Psychological aspects of Violence
