I don't understand the idea that something in the future must be because it has been a precedent in the past.
And verily, the spider did eat the fly, the bird did eat the spider, and the cat did eat the bird. This of course, to the chagrin of the old woman, who had spent all day cleaning the kitchen and scraping the floors, which were now covered in bird mess.
Well really all things come from the past. Without words or communication, we never would be able to do everything we think of doing in the present. And without the knowledge of the present, I don't think it's possible to do something in the future.
Violence is in our nature, 'tis true. That is how we survived this far in the war of survival. However, to become more than what we are, we will need to learn to increasingly set violence aside in favor of less destructive solutions. Like the speed of light, I believe that is a limit we can only approach, and never reach. Evolution has not ceased, and there will always be survival challenges, not all of which can be resolved without competitive struggles in which the loser loses everything. Approaching some situations with nothing more than an olive branch is an invitation: Kill me. But every time we can meet a situation where violence is an option, without choosing that option, we take a step toward a better future.
Until we can do away with competition, ego, disagreements and pride violence will be waiting for those that can be conquered, silenced, and intimidated.
I must agree with Cogito (as I often do) on this subject. I am an anthropologist at heart and by education, and I know that we (humans) are but one step off of the savannah. We have only been AMS (anatomically modern sapiens) for the past 100,000 to 150,000 years. That is just a blink of the proverbial evolutionary eye. We still very much carry with us everything we had in the past. Humans are pack animals, just like dogs and their ancestors, the wolves. We have a species wide ban on the use of labels which apply to animals, but it is what we are. Plain and simple. The dog was the first domesticated animal because of the similarities we share, even though there were other animals much more suited to domestication and of greater immediate benefit to us as humans within reach. Violence is in our nature as much as it is in the nature of any pack animal in order to maintain order and regimentation within the group. We see violence as a negative because it is a behavior now being applied to a pack animal which has grown in population to the size of a herd or hive animal. It is a mismatch in paradigm. What’s a species to do?
i'm saddened to hear you had to endure so much violence in your life, torana... but i have great respect for your determination to teach your child that it's not ok... if all mothers did that, this would no longer be such a violent world, at least in the human vs human and other creatures sense... i don't know why you'd be surprised, sfr, since i think anyone who's read my posts probably knows by now that i'm a realist above all... imagine what you will, all i've studied, observed and experienced in nearly 2/3 of a century tell me that this species will not change significantly for the better, no matter how long it survives... love and sad hugs, maia
We are change. The perception of difference is so important to our existance. We intrinsically change, in what way is our decison. There is a theory that says things are either getting better or worse. I have seen progress in my lifetime, I would say things will get better before they get worse. Even if that is not true I will still believe, because my belief will directly influence the outcome.
