We can’t all be heroes but as a species we can become more altruistic – with a bit of practice

‘In a community founded on an ethics of care, I can begin to see my “self” as connected, as part of a larger whole,’ Jackie Bailey writes. Composite: Getty Images

As a species, Homo sapiens have a bad reputation. War, environmental pillage, weapons of mass destruction – if the human race were applying for the job as planetary custodian, we wouldn’t even make it through to the interview stage.

But maybe we are not as bad as we think. According to the author and psychologist Steven Pinker, human society has become kinder over the course of recorded history, perhaps not in a linear fashion, but in absolute terms. He argues in The Better Angels of Our Nature that, over the long arc of history, violence – including murder, cruelty and war deaths – have declined.