Comments on: Are Humans Violent By Nature?

By: dave

dave — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:15:51 +0000

Dave,Why don’t you just admit that Pinker destroyed your world view (he’s got a table of pre-modern violence that shows primitive humans were brutal and violent to a degree that killed a much larger % than modern societies) and that wasn’t even a study done by him! You should just admit that he’s smarter than you, he’s done more research than you and that your worldview is devastated by his book. The fact that it took you this many years to address him and that you simply rejected him is evidence that you don’t know how and cannot refute him. OWNED.

By: Jack Yan

Jack Yan — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 10:57:49 +0000

In the words of the great philosopher, poet and artist, Benny Hill:

By: medaille

medaille — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 20:57:52 +0000

How can humans be violent by nature if I’m not violent by nature?

By: Alice

Alice — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 18:28:41 +0000

We always compare humans to chimpanzees as if they are the only ape relative we may have, sometimes it feels that we enjoy associating with them because we need to feel that our violence is somehow justified in its existence prior to us in evolution. We study their violent nature as some sort of proof we too are animals and that our kindness is an element of our evolutionary superiority, our ‘humanity’ not our ‘animality’. Constantly looking at the violent nature of our society seems like a rational for our own violent feelings and behaviours instead of accepting that we too are compassionate and focusing on our potential for kindness and our ability to influence our future human evolutionary tract in a more positive direction. In the past couple of years there has been a welcome surge of writings on the Bonobo chimpanzee and it is noted that not only do we share genes with them they are also known for there matriarcal societies, sex positive behaviour and gift societies. It feels that we will take any excuse to remain in ignorance rather than accepting change and take responsibility for the choices we make.

By: cindy

cindy — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 03:31:35 +0000

Would you agree that we copy voilent? For example all those violent movies we are provided on TV and movie houses? The recent cartoon incidents that spread all over the world? What if there is no TV, no internet, no mobile phones that can take pictures, no faxes … would they (the middle east region especially) know about the cartoons to start with? Secondly I think the resulted street violence spread because of copy-cat of what they saw on TV? 15 years ago before I left for the US, NL was a peaceful nation. There hardly a murdered case. These days murdered is no longer news. We have them almost every week (holland is small and only with 16 millions inhabitants). These past 2,3 years there were so many cases of fatal child abuse or husband/wife killed the kids and spouse then committed suicide. I don’t think these people suddenly became so brave, neither is because of crowding. I am more of the opinion that they copy what they saw on TV soap or news.

By: me

me — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 02:33:22 +0000

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By: Rayne

Rayne — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 00:29:16 +0000

Dave, it’s a matrix of reasons why humans are the way they are. Ditto for the rest of the animal and plant worlds. It would be so easier to think it was one set of absolute either-ors or another to which we could attribute our behavior, but frankly, that wouldn’t be sufficient to hedge our bets. Were we also to look at all behavior as celluar automata (scripts or programs) running in the hundreds of thousands or millionth iteration, the output appears quite random — like violence that is unexplained by any external or internal motivation. I buy the concept of crowding contributing to some violence, but violence appeared in even the most uncrowded of cultures (like human sacrifies among Pacific Islanders a millenia or two ago). I think we’re at a point where we must evolve and embrace post-humanity; we don’t have to be violent humans any longer, do we, if we are now capable of building our own operating system?

By: Barbara W. Klaser

Barbara W. Klaser — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 22:52:18 +0000

Great post. I agree much of this has to do with crowding.

By: FishEpid

FishEpid — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 20:34:36 +0000

Dave wrote: “If you’re looking for a good book on ‘nature versus nurture’, there are much better choices.”Such as? Tnx.