According to a story in the Guardian, "more than one in three men surveyed in the Democratic Republic
of Congo's war-torn east admits committing sexual assault, and three in
four believe that a woman who "does not dress decently is asking to be
raped." If I recall correctly, a similar study done in South Africa a few
years ago produced similar results. Such findings, though, seem to have made no
impression on Steven Pinker, Joshua Goldsten, and other liberal intellectuals
who have confidently argued that both large-scale violence and violent crime
are fast becoming obsolete - this time for real.
As Iain McGilchrist has pointed out, the left
hemisphere of even the sharpest brain can be an expert in self-assured denial.
