Most people think the world is more violent than ever, with more wars and murders, but in reality, we've never had it so peaceful.

That's the thesis of a new book by prominent Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker. It uses graphs and statistics to reveal dramatic reductions in war deaths, family violence, racism, rape, and murder.

In his book, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, Pinker writes: "The decline of violence may be the most significant and least appreciated development in the history of our species."

For the improvement, Pinker credits the spread of government, literacy, trade, and cosmopolitanism. "We increasingly control our impulses, empathize with others, bargain rather than plunder, debunk toxic ideologies, and deploy our powers of reason to reduce the temptations of violence."

(READ the full AP story via MSNBC)