Here's a thought I had while reading up on history: many cultures seem to get a huge rush out of combat and cruelty. The Mayans would intentionally oppress and let their outer provinces rebel just to have more people to kill for their god. The mongols had an entire industry based around workers just beheading people to instill fear in their enemies. The Spanish had the Inquisitions and the conquest of the Americas. And the Greeks seemed to treat war like a sport in some times and places. Not only that, but other mammals seem to be naturally inclined to violence. Chimpanzees, badgers, possums, plenty of mammals that we share ancestry with are also inclined to violence. Plus, our media is almost completely violent. Shootings, beatings, fighting almost everywhere you look. Also, recent research on combat shows that many get a rush from it; a combat high that even causes some to re-enlist for it. I hypothesize that some PTSD comes from this not fitting with society's norms instilled in them and the person being unable to reconcile his experiences with what he thinks is healthy and normal. Have most humans throughout history enjoyed violence and fighting in general? Are we naturally sadistic?
and what they found was just the reverse. Men avoid killing at the personal level, almost 20 to 1 odds. The torture and sadism, however, are not touched upon in these books.
We are naturally violent, I don't think we are naturally sadistic, but my definition of sadistic is enjoying inflicting pain sexually.
Yep. Take it from an evolutionary standpoint and observe our hairier cousins, and compare it to how we feel about violence (the rush you mentioned, etc.) and how we tend to behave. We're primates through and through, just with exceptionally sophisticated brains and an equally unique physical form, all of which comes down to a few key mutations that nevertheless have not made us much if at all less violent. At least our intellect does permit us to take conscious control over our actions in a way that other primates likely are lacking to some extent, though this also clearly varies from person to person
Well, to be more specific, that's face to face. He also mentions in his one book that people find it way easier to shoot enemies running away. I think it's more of a fear for personal safety than an aversion to violence, because if it was, why would they find it so much easier shooting people in the back or from far away?
Yes, I believe humans are naturally violent. Its a survival trait seen throughout the animal kingdom. I also believe our intellect and the social structures we have constructed over the millennia mitigate this violence to a substantial degree. Regrettably that degree isn't remotely close to vanquishing war and criminality.
I think so, when it comes to things like territory, jealousy, and other such things. After all, we are really just animals, and animals exhibit this type of behavior all the time.
Animals are inclined to violence only to protect their young, and to kill to eat. Except for our closest relative the chimp, which has been observed attacking another tribe of chimps in aggression. Even when other species of males fight for dominance, they generally never kill the other. Humans have been violent, warring with another tribe, perhaps over resources, but only civilized man indulges in war for ideological reasons. We fight and kill others over ideas. So, that makes us even more dangerous than the rest of the animal kingdom. One can understand humans fighting over resources, when they are limited. One can understand fighting in self defense. But one cannot understand fighting wars over beliefs, or ideologies. But man unlike the rest of the animal kingdom has a brain, language, logic and reason. So there is no need to fight for anything the animals fight for, like resources, and certainly no need to fight for ideological beliefs, religious or political. We are the only species that can actually consciously choose, where the other species are hardwired, and are programmed. We are the only species that actually can transcend violence, which is why homo sapiens is special.
Godammit! People are not (*)(*)(*)(*)ing violent! Only a (*)(*)(*)(*)ing asinine moron would dare question the fact that people are level headed and calm. We are the (*)(*)(*)(*)ing masters of being rational and being able to reason with one another in a measured manner. Go (*)(*)(*)(*) yourself!
Just from what I have seen, lions kill the young of competing males. Dolphins kill young porpoises. Many breeds of monkeys and primates kill the young of other males. Rhinos and Hippos will attack animals nearby for no reason whatsoever. Elephants are death tanks when in musk and will attack anything that looks at them funny. There are tons of examples of animals killing for no other reason than they feel like it.
I agree, ChrisL. If someone invades our territory, say they break into our house in the middle of the night, the natural instinct is to attack them violently. And a huge number of murders are related to jealousy. Love triangles are one the most common motivations for deadly violence.
I find it likely that societies themselves create inherent violence. Think about it...taking large groups of individual creatures and putting them all in a box, all it takes is one disagreement or mistake to (*)(*)(*)(*) the next one off.
I disagree. I think violence is instinctual. It used to be survival of the fittest. I think people have always been violent, especially if they feel threatened in some way. It's just that in our culture today, violence is not acceptable and in most cases, against the law. We have become much more civilized than we ever were in the past.
` No. The fact that we, meaning humanity, are still here as a specie, gives testament that violence is not a dominant trait among humans. We are "capable" violence, but that is not to say we are inherently violent. While it is indisputable that wars have been fought, the fact that they seem to dominate our history may say more about how history is presented than about what actually happened.
As much violence as there is in human society, there is more compassion and nurturing than violence, otherwise, businesses, rule of law, trade, even procreation will not even exists. I think you are just focusing on the negative side, and missing the whole picture.
That's dumb. Man is the only human creature around. And how long has man been around? If we are inhuman, we'd be extinct.
