We live in the most peaceful period in human history... wait, what?

A new video explains the war paradox

Published October 10, 2014 3:08PM (EDT)

    (Kurzgesagt)
(Kurzgesagt)

Do you feel like the news is constantly covering violence? From ISIS to Ukraine to Gaza, it can feel like the world is self-destructing. Actually, we live in the most peaceful time in history. How can that be?

Kurzgesagt, a Munich-based design studio known for educational videos, has released their latest on the war paradox.

As of September 2014, there were four conflicts going on in the world that had caused at least 10,000 people to die since January 2013, nine conflicts that had killed more than 1,000 people, and 13 that killed more than 100 since January 2013.

"Not really peaceful," the narrator says, "but consider this: of all the conflicts going on, none is an active war between countries. They are either civil wars or local conflicts. Although civil wars are terrible and cause huge suffering, their impact is usually way smaller than a war between nations or empires."

Watch the video and learn why, although the world seems to be going to hell, we actually aren't doing so badly.


By Joanna Rothkopf

MORE FROM Joanna Rothkopf


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