Interesting statistic about human aggression

In a book by Erich Fromm

Category:

Education

Tags:

• erich
• fromm
• human
• aggression
• civilization
• battles
• wars
• primitive
• hunter
• gatherers

[keytoothed]

Population growth=more aggressive expansion=more conflicts over resources, I would think.

[mr1001nights]

Optimists think it could be

Population growth=less isolation, more collective understanding & mutual aid= more sharing of resources

[TheScrewOnHead]

According to Steven Pinker violence has been declining by percent.  watch?v=ramBFRt1Uzk&feature=ch­annel_page

[mr1001nights]

I already refuted pinker 2 years ago phillyimcDOTorg/es/node/61270

[Xenu]

I'm not sure what you mean. Intra-european conflict 1950 - 2000 is significantly lower than it's been in centuries.

[mr1001nights]

The period shown is 1900-1940 (not 1950). It doesnt include WW2 or 40s conflicts. I say "battles engaged in by the principal European powers" NOT intra-European conflict. The earlier sentence about the number&intensity of wars being "highest among powerful states" also refers to attacks against noneuropean(eg 3rd world) countries. True, European states waged fewer wars against each other in the 2nd half of the 20th century. WW2 taught them their increased destructive potential made it too costly

[comradepinko]

I recall reading studies of soldiers reacting to combat in World War I. Soldiers would be unwilling to kill another human being and would frequently simply fire over the head of their opponent. Significant changes to training were made to condition soldiers to quickly aim and fire at human targets.

Not only is a state required to start a conflict, it needs to steal some of the humanity from its soldiers to actually get them to do the killing.

[brainpolice2]

I think it has more to do with the intensity of war than the propensity towards violence itself.

[contraquizzical]

And your article disputing Pinker's claim is thought provoking, but his argument is based on proportional data, whereas yours is based solely on larger numbers, which is misrepresentative given the growth in human population in the last hundred years.

[contraquizzical]

I understand the role of propaganda and conditioning in state-sponsored violence, however I also believe that at the core of that principle is inherent human aggression, an archaic but also pervasive instinct handed down by evolutionary ancestors.Therefore, the challenge of the state lies in reversing the socially ritualized moral value of human life, not inventing and introducing an entirely foreign concept.

[igotssssoul]

That's very interesting and thank you for sharing. Someone mentioned population growth and that sounds like that could comprise a good argument if you also combine that with how much the human ego has grown in the world (especially Western ideals). Also, I can't help but wonder if battles fought under the basis of human rights is something to take into account when looking over those statistics.

[WalkerEdelstein]

nature is a part of ourself and the more we move away from nature the more we move away from ourself. its all a metapher (the more we just use nature for profit the more we just use the human beeing and of course animals) so the moving away from nature into a thought-constructed technological world is simply a metapher of the moving away from the self. and the product of that is aggression, idioty, wars, etc etc.

[antisubaru]

I think that you one-upped me.

[baofuv8]

solar weapons =(

[dirkcjelli]

What is the justification for counting the number of battles, as opposed to the number of casualties per capita or the number per capita who wind up fighting in a statist armed conflict?

I'm concerned this methodology may give misleading results on account of changing definitions of what "one battle" constitutes, etc. (I'm generally mistrustful of suggestions of a "golden age in the past.")

[RSFO]

Ah okay. Very good and sane people often call themselves libertarian socialists it seems. .-)

[Cefuroxx]

fromm, i think it was in an old black and white interview with mike wallace doen in the 50´s...

[RSFO]

Who? I would take it as a compliment if someone called me a libertarian socialist. .-D