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BOOK

Good or bad?

Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker is the author of best-sellers including The Blank Slate and The Language Instinct. His latest book, The Better Angels of Our Nature, asks the question whether people are fundamentally good or bad. The book has a compelling thesis: Violence has declined over the past century and is less socially acceptable than ever. Pinker uses lots of statistics to back it up and arguments about cognition and evolutionary processes. The Better Angels of Our Nature was picked by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for his book club. Bill Gates recently said it is "the most inspiring book I've ever read."