New study suggests humans are not naturally violent.

Originally posted by pierregustavetoutant
Wholly geez. Watch a nature special. Or do a cursory study of biological science and evolution. Nature is violent. Humans are violent. We are animals. Obviously, violent ones. It is perfectly natural. We aren't living "unnaturally" We are just a minor part of nature. To think otherwise is religion and/or hubris.

Animals hunting or humans doing the same is not Violence that is called survival, Violence is Rape, Torture, "Gang" conflict resulting in death, Child abuse, Mental Abuse (bullies ect ect..) and so on, hunting and gathering are not violent acts, because when you hunt you do not hate and seek revenge on that animal or plant, just a means of survival.

Now Farms now a days are Violent because the animals are abused, poisoned, tortured and then killed, if you are out in the woods and go fishing, that is not Violent.

This is absurd. Humans are naturally violent creatures.

Watch a bunch of young kids with minimal social skills. You get the truth about the human animal every time. There is no greater example of barbarity out there. Watch that "Funniest Videos" thing sometime. Who's downright mean in those vids? The kids.

Humans also murder each other in some of the most heinous ways imaginable.

This study is a load of crap.

This kind of goes against what we are taught to believe. That it is natural for human beings to be negative to each other. Children know positive facial recognition from birth. Negative recognition is taught. I wonder how much society and government teach us to be negative..

I don't know "how much society and government teach us to be negative," however I believe our own families have the greatest influence on negativity. If my family exhibits a positive outlook on life, then I could more easily dispel someone else's negativity...don't you think? Our families are our first and strongest influence in our lives. (As I believe).

reply to post by purplemer


I have always believed that we are born broken. Now, this shows me even deeper levels of corruption in our society...we are TEACHING our children to grow up violent and unruly. WTH?!?!

Originally posted by purplemer
reply to post by Gridrebel

 

I'm sorry, but I busted out laughing when I saw the title. Only because of the insane contention! Hitler, Stalin, Mao, just to name a few

en.wikipedia.org...

I think I know where you are coming from. As humans we are capable of both great acts of compassion and hatrerd. In the light of this evidence does it not maybe mean that the people mentioned above are the result of a social sickness...

In light of evidence it shows massive death and destruction. One cannot deny the facts. Can I even call on Dracula???

Vlad III spent much of his rule campaigning against the Ottoman Empire and its expansion.[4] As the cognomen 'The Impaler' suggests, his practice of impaling his enemies[5] is central to his historical reputation. During his lifetime, his reputation for excessive cruelty spread abroad, to Germany and elsewhere in Europe. The total number of his victims is estimated in the tens of thousands. The name of the vampire Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula was inspired by Vlad's patronymic.[5]

Sorry but I just can't agree with your sources. The facts do speak for themsleves. And then add in the abortion numbers!!!!!!!

Of the estimated 42 million induced abortions

Disgusting. Yeah, we agree just a bunch of good ole' guys, don't cha know??? We all love each other and sing [www.youtube.com...

reply to post by AfterInfinity


Thats how it looks to me... that there is some massive underlying problem with the way we live.. I also kind of think that maybe its done on purpose. The more violence and fear we have the easier it is to control and rule...

reply to post by Gridrebel


Have a wee look at this....

The “Imbalance of Power Hypothesis” is largely based on evidence of violence in the animal world, particularly observations of violent behavior among chimpanzees, our closest animal relatives. But other social scientists have instead studied modern humans in an attempt to discover whether warfare is rooted in evolution. And, contrary to the predictions of the “Imbalance of Power Hypothesis,” many of these scientists have concluded that humans have an innate aversion to killing others.

smellslikescience.com...

Originally posted by purplemer
reply to post by AfterInfinity

 

Thats how it looks to me... that there is some massive underlying problem with the way we live.. I also kind of think that maybe its done on purpose. The more violence and fear we have the easier it is to control and rule...

On purpose indicates a responsibility to act on a personal level. Wouldn't you agree? We all have a choice. We all choose.

Violence damages the spirit of an innocent person.That is why it is a primary tool,in control and against it. If you do it part of you knows what evil you do. Wise men do only what is necessary,brash men just do it wantonly,and pay a heavier price in guilt.
If violence is in you, then you are better off going into combat arms than becoming a criminal.
How we are deployed is the fault of command at the top.

reply to post by purplemer


Obviously. There is no reason to do it if not to establish some sort of authority. That's what we want, isn't it? Control over the uncontrollable. Why? Because we fear ourselves. We fear ourselves in others. Every person has some semblance of us inside of them, and that semblance of us in them is going to want to attack us to prolong or extend or increase what they have, so they can continue living in comfort. We're afraid of that in them. So we establish control. How do we establish control? Addiction and reverence - or addiction and fear.

We give them something they want until we convince them they can't live without it, then we exchange it for their cooperation. And when we have them under that kind of control, we show them we're the good guys and those people out there are trying to take away everything they love. As long as they help us help them, they will be safe from those demons. And by "we", I mean our leaders. That's what they do. That's why the lead. Because the leaders before them see how good they are, see a little of themselves in them, and they explain how the game works. So those people who are going in inherit the throne won't just take it from them by force.

"Play this game with me, and you will eventually have what I have. If you help me, because two are better than one...if you help me, if you have what it takes, what's mine will someday be yours. But if you ever turn on me, I will take away everything you've ever had, and you'll wish you never heard my name or saw my face."

That's the political disclaimer. Welcome to Tier 4 of the Chess Game of the Modern World. We are Tier 2, the middle class workers whose only place in politics is to vote and spread gossip. Other than that, we keep the gears turning and the oil flowing. We're expendable. The higher up you go, the better chances of being nonexpendable, but the harder they'll try to make you expendable. They have no room for weaklings, no room for dead weight of any kind, no room for people that can't pull five times their own weight in cash, and they make sure you understand that. You have to be careful, because it's a world of sharks up there. If you look tasty, or if you're in the way, and you don't have the brains or influence to protect yourself, you're lunch meat. Eat or be eaten.

And it's all because we fear the us in the others around us. Because we know that the worst of us is in everyone else too, if they can find it. And because we know it's so much easier to do what's wrong than what's right, and while we're doing what's right, someone who decides to choose the Dark Side will crush us in their blazing ascent, because that's what the Tier 5 looks for. Tier 5 wants no mercy. No compassion. Only the fight to live: eat or be eaten.

That's our legacy as Homo Sapiens. That's why I pray for evolution. Whatever higher powers there be, I pray that we evolve - before there's nothing left to evolve, and we only become greater and more terrible monsters with every passing decade.

Looking through a few posts on here and I think that maybe somebody should define what they believe violence actually is before they comment.

As far as I'm concerned 'violence' is a physical act that leads to harm or destruction.

That said, hell yes humans are naturally violent. One of the things that makes us human is our ability, as we grow from childhood, to control ourselves and use violence only when we have to, ie for defense, or when hunting for food.

If we were a non-violent species, there would be no historical evidence of wars, there would be no tribal warrior class evident in pretty much all early world cultures, and we would all be vegetarians to boot.

Also, we are mammals, we are members of the ape family, we live in social groups, need I say more(of course some people may disagree with me on the latter two points to the point of wanting to be violent towards me).

reply to post by seabhac-rua


Violence is any means by which you harm someone without justification. That's my definition, anyway.

reply to post by seabhac-rua

That said, hell yes humans are naturally violent. One of the things that makes us human is our ability, as we grow from childhood, to control ourselves and use violence only when we have to, ie for defence, or when hunting for food.

A bit out of remit for me. Evidence suggests some matriarchal societies of the past had far lower rates of violence. I am talking pre iron age. think that such societies had a different relationship with the earth.These guys got wiped out by more aggressive types societies. I am not saying violence did not occur but it apparently occurred at a far lesser rate.

What this says to me is that the type of societies we have and environmental factors play a role in the aggressiveness of us as people. So it is worth asking if we had a different type of society again. Could we not further reduce violence..

reply to post by AfterInfinity


Well my question is if someone tries to steal someone else's food in a doomsday situation and is then shot dead
in that situation do you not call it violence?

reply to post by KoolerKing


It dont think it is that simple.I live in one of the remotest part of the Europe and I live in a community. In a doomsday situation my best resource is not my food pile or my weapon it is the people around me. We are stronger as a group than I am by myself. That is something people seem to miss when the talk about survival.. Other people.

We are natural social creatures. In the cities that has been removed from us. Is that not a type of violence in its self...

Originally posted by Gridrebel
Soooo, I'm hoping the murder rate in the world will go down. Because according to this site, it isn't
chartsbin.com...

Why do small minds always want to chuck and retort at new information, rather than thinking about and understanding it?

reply to post by KoolerKing


Yes. It is a harmful action, regardless of the end result. Leave it to humans to overcomplicate matters, just because the possibilities are there to be thought of.

Violence is doing harm. There, I simplified it because your next supposition will probably include meteors, due to their impartial destructive nature.

This study is spot on, and I'll club anyone who disagrees.

I think I'll actually disagree with this "study". They may be correct that people are physically violent, but people are definitely cruel.

Originally posted by rtyfx
This is absurd. Humans are naturally violent creatures.

Watch a bunch of young kids with minimal social skills. You get the truth about the human animal every time. There is no greater example of barbarity out there. Watch that "Funniest Videos" thing sometime. Who's downright mean in those vids? The kids.

Humans also murder each other in some of the most heinous ways imaginable.

This study is a load of crap.

I have to agree with you. One just has to look back at our past and see that humans are not "naturally good." Cro- Magnon man for example.

reply to post by Gridrebel


Do you have no idea what social conditioning is? I think it would serve you well to read the actual study and the studies presented by other members.


I see there are many members who assume that ALL humans are natural evil and violent because of SOME examples without researching the origins of the mentalities that led to those acts.

By the logic I'm seeing in this thread, I can say all human beings are ignorant because some ATS members are ignorant right here in this thread.

Yes, I'm sure most of you would say that my assumption is false but if you do, that would obliterate your own arguments used in this thread.

Enjoy.