Today's notatall Disturbing Rumination:

[kalibex]

I'm guessing that Systems Theory would predict that if humans truly no longer face significant non-human predators, that the human community itself would start to produce an increasing number of predators, to prey upon itself.

As we, I believe, have seen.

Which leads to the question, is there truly only more thorough reporting of, for example, incidents of violence and predation that lead to deaths...or has that incidence actually increased lately...?

I guess only statistics - which are only as good as human record-keeping - might possibly shed some light on that question.

Comments

[antikythera.livejournal.com]

We probably can't tell through human record-keeping whether or not things are changing. We keep better records than we used to, we investigate every death even if it doesn't look suspicious, we report every crime, and communication is worldwide and instantaneous. I don't think we can compare the present to the past and call it scientifically sound.

That said, when there are more people and more crowding, and more lopsidedness in wealth distribution, some people are going to be more violent. I don't know if we have to invoke anything evolutionary beyond the kicking-in of survival instincts that lead people to do irrational things (e.g. murder is irrational, because while you might be able to take someone's things after killing them, you will very likely be punished afterwards-- so the act that you thought would benefit you actually doesn't).

[versaphile.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Also, humans have another tendency which is to see the past as a magically better place. Everything I've read of history tells me humanity has not changed a bit over the past thousands of years.