A cursory reading of human history might suggest hints of such a convergence: in his book The Better Angels of Our Nature, Steven Pinker argues that humanity has been getting less violent and more cooperative for thousands of years, and that many parts of the world have seen increasing acceptance of diversity, autonomy and democracy. Another hint of convergence is that the pursuit of truth through the scientific method has gained in popularity over past millennia. However, it may be that these trends show convergence not of ultimate goals but merely of subgoals. For example, figure 7.2 shows
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