I would suggest another word, if I could find one that fits the text. 

 Pinker is an evolutionary psychologist and using the word evolution has the potential for making it seem like we're talking about his views on cultural evolution. I am not making a reference to the concept of pinkers's evolution, at all. That is clearly explained following the word, where it is put into context. The word "evolution" refers to the general improvement of mankind, that is explicit in Pinker's quote. That is it.