In london a young man is convicted of killing a catholic priest, strangled an old woman and stabbing another years back. his only explanation was that he 'enjoyed killing'
The question is,is man violent by nature, is violence learned, can man master his aggressive impulses. What do we hear and watched every day? but tales of violence from all corners of the globe. Organised war fares, robbery,kidnapps,riots, vandalism.
The idea that genetic defects might be responsible for criminal violence was proponded by the Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso.This has been revived by other psychologists who suggested that an abnormality in the heredity unit or chromosomes could predisposes one to antisocial behaviour, while a group of Boston brain surgeons reported finding a high incidence of abnormal brain waves among prison population.This recieved surport when Charles Whitman in Austin,Texas murdered his mother, wife and shot 38 other people from the top of a university tower, a huge tumour was found in his brain.
Charles Darwin in his theory of evolution believed that violence serves a useful purpose in the evolution of man,by enabling the fittest and strongest to survive by surpressing the weak known as social Darwinism. In 1908 British psychologist William McDougall called aggression ''the intinct of pugacity'' and stated that it was likely the most important factor in Man,s evolution as a social being.
Konard Lorenz maintained that aggression in human being just like animals is instintive, but what makes man more destructive is the lack of built-in inhibitors against the terrible weapons fashioned by man. Think of Albert Einstein whose brilliant work in physics without his intention has now lead to the production of weapons of mass destruction fashioned by man.
If only man faught only with their fists and natural strenght like animals,things wouldnt have been this bad.but with the on going arms races,scientists now spend sleepless nights trying to out do each other researching on better destructive weapons;like Ronald Bailey in the book HUMAN BEHAVIOUR said ''these weapons came so fast that evolution has not been able to keep pace with them''
Weaponary has become more complex and complicated that remote control is all that is needed now, think of drone aircraft, the aggressor never see physically the victims;so they are less than human. we are all in trouble for sure as how do you stop your creation into falling into the wrong hands. mankind is in very terrible and dangerious situation because man,s negative creative impulses certainly will bring the destruction of man in totality.
Many others believed thet violent behaviour is not inate in man,sure some degree of aggression is; but man we are told more than lower animals is a learning being, whatever are his inate potentialites,his attributes is shaped largely by his experiences of the world, the values of his culture and specific institutions that is found around. Therefore the level of aggression and violence varies from culture to culture and importantly contacts with other people.to be contiuned.
