> I would also contest the claim that we are more violent and barbaric now than in the past. I believe that is factually incorrect or at least controversial. At any rate, science could be accused of the technical advances that make killing more efficient but not of starting wars or worsening the base instincts and gullibility that underlying the causes of cruelty and barbarism.
One of the core beliefs of modern society is that cruelty and barbarism spring from base instincts and not from the pattern of thinking inherent in the structure of that society, but this is at best an open question as far as anthropological data on early hunter-gatherers is concerned. See the work of Brian Ferguson for example.
One of the core beliefs of modern society is that cruelty and barbarism spring from base instincts and not from the pattern of thinking inherent in the structure of that society, but this is at best an open question as far as anthropological data on early hunter-gatherers is concerned. See the work of Brian Ferguson for example.