Chimpanzee cub
The initial perspective
When we look at human nature, we come across two opposing perspectives: one that sees violence as a natural part of human nature that can be kept within limits using a variety of measures – and the other that assumes that people are naturally peaceful and that violence, when it occurs, has a cause, a reason that can be recognized and therefore addressed. Despite the fact that the view that sees humans as fundamentally violent, is particularly widespread in academia and also favoured by the media, there are convincing arguments for a perspective that sees humans as essentially peaceful.
The psychologist and founder of person-centered psychotherapy Carl Rogers draws on his many years of professional experience, which have given him an understanding of human nature, that he sees as essentially self-preserving and social. In his opinion, the perspective that perceives humans as destructive is heavily influenced by our Western religion and the idea of original sin. According to Rogers, Freud and his followers also contributed to this perspective by positing that man’s unconscious nature consisted of instincts that, left uncontrolled, would lead to crimes such as incest and murder, and that the function of therapy was to control these untamed tendencies (Rogers, 1961).
Douglas P. Fry, anthropologist and leading authority on aggression and conflict resolution, draws on findings from cultural anthropology, archeology and human paleontology, behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology, as well as recent field research on hunter-gatherer groups around the world to obtain the most complete and integrated view possible on the human capacity for violence and peace. From a macroscopic anthropological perspective, Fry states that for 99% of their evolutionary history, well over a million years, humans lived in nomadic egalitarian hunter-gatherer groups where warfare was rare. He also finds many studies that refer to the extraordinary human ability to resolve conflicts nonviolently. Fry points to the long tradition of a perspective that sees war as an essential part of human nature, and in this context mentions Thomas Hobbes, who wrote about the natural state of war in his philosophies published in 1651. Frei also mentions the well-known psychologist William James (1842-1910), who was convinced of the warlike nature of humans, and Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), who developed the idea of the death drive to explain forms of human destructiveness. However, according to Fry, this perspective arises from the experiences of our current social and political world and is so popular because it is familiar and therefore easy to accept. Fry points out that some evolutionary psychologists’ claims that war evolved through natural selection are refuted by field studies of nomadic hunter-gatherers. Fry warns that the widespread belief that war is natural and acceptable is hindering the search for alternatives – and that the inevitability of war could become a self-fulfilling prophecy (Fry, 2007).
The medical doctor and sociologist Nicholas A. Christakis, who deals with the genetic basis of our society, also confirms the view that people are more inclined to live together peacefully. He uses an evolutionary sociological approach to show how, during human development, natural selection has developed a series of behaviors that enable survival under adverse living conditions. These behaviors now encoded in our genes, which Christakis calls ‘blueprint’, include cooperation, friendship and the ability for social learning. It is these abilities that enable people to develop a flexible connection and thus to react adequately under different circumstances and to different types of problems. Christakis makes clear that the negative perspective that perceives people as separate from one another and focuses on violence and destruction overlooks an important underlying unity: that of our shared humanity. According to Christakis, the evolutionary sociological studies he references show that all humans are designed to create a society characterized by friendship, cooperation and learning (Christakis, 2019).
If we start with the assumption that the nature of human beings is inherently peaceful, then the question arises as to what type of event might have the potential to disrupt this ‘natural’ tendency. Traumatic experiences have the potential to cause a rupture to our behavior and are therefore a possible cause for violent action. In order to explore the connection between trauma and violence, it is therefore necessary to look at trauma and its effects. This will therefore be the topic of the following blogs.
Bibliography
Christakis, N. A. (2019). Blueprint, The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society . New York: Little, Brown Spark.
Fry, D. P. (2007). Beyond War. New York: Oxford UP.
Rogers, C. R. (1961). On Becoming a Person. London: Constable & Company.
Images
https://www.rockhamptonzoo.com.au/Our-animals/Chimpanzees