The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World

by Dalai Lama XIV

If we follow the Dalai Lama’s customary recommendation to deliberately investigate human behavior from a wider and more comprehensive perspective, looking at the interplay of events that may contribute to any given situation, and examine rates of aggressive, violent behavior of our species from a long-term perspective, a very different set of facts emerges, presenting an entirely different picture of humanity: According to researchers, during the age of hunter-gatherer societies, 30 percent of the male population died by violent means, at the hands of others. What was the percentage during the bloody twentieth century, even with the wars, the genocides, the constant warfare? Less than 1 percent!