The Better Angels of our Nature

Steven Pinker makes a deep impact with his book, but I am intrigued that he focused on the lesser angels instead.

Acts of goodness are rare, celebrating goodness is on the wane. The world on the other hand has prospered and progressed from good deeds, acts of sacrifice, moral constructs that enhance human faculties for creation or constructive transformation; more of the good always replace more of the worse.

Steven Pinker's book on the same title, brings us to the core of the issue, but I am intrigued that the book could have enquired about the good deeds that human beings have done through times, which demonstrate the true goodness in our souls that bring out the better angels of our nature.

Our nature as guided by our genes is essentially steeped in selfishness, not sacrifice, the essence of our survival has been predicated on violence; the book is replete with examples to this effect.

From the days of barbarism to civilization there has been remarkable progress but still goodness remained as the lesser known instinct and the one less honed and celebrated.

But I still have doubts how and why would there be more doves surviving than hawks through these ages, why would some harmless creatures do better, humans included; how could it be that these communities of goodness kept on growing rather than shrinking?

Why should we not talk about goodness more than the darker side of our being? Why propagating goodness is no more the staple of leaders, why the better angels of our nature should be still struggling to free itself from the shackles of the brute animal spirits that bind us?

I remember an incident from my days in Zurich when my colleague received 50 Swiss francs more when he bought his train tickets in Zurich with cash. He discovered this later and vowed to return back the excess amount in his next visit to the Zurich Main station. I told him to tell me how the returning of cash happened.

The lady at the counter went back to check whether there was a reported shortage and she came back with a beaming smile that indeed there was a short receipt of 50 Swiss francs. She took the money and gave a receipt but told my colleague to wait. She later returned with a gift wrap. I asked my colleague what was inside and indeed it a Swiss Knife worth 65 Swiss Francs.

The reason why the Swiss would like to give back a costlier gift could be related to the gesture of gratuity for a rather rare act of goodness.

Steven Pinker leaves me with a sobering thought that our primal instincts are not steeped with goodness, so every time a good act gets done, it must be celebrated; after all these are rare moments in the annals of our existence.

Let us make it a habit to search good things, talk about good deeds, celebrate them in every opportunity we get. No matter how wrong the examples of the world around us, the better angels of our nature must prevail, "we must fall back into them to clamber back with branches of secret water, recondite truths."

No matter how rare the display of goodness, it must still be what propels us towards it, not away from it. The principles of fairness and equity, although developed only in the last few centuries, have eclipsed the darker side of human regression. Justice as fairness has made far bigger inroads into our being as individuals and communities.

I would urge Steven Pinker to write a sequel to this magnum opus, that which will be predicated on the better angels of our nature.