Why do so many human beings in this day and age continue to use physical aggression toward others on a regular basis, for everything from making money to entertainment to "solving problems"?
Why is it still so common in our species even though it's 2014, and humans having relatively high intelligence?
They don't need to do it, so why still do it?
Because.
That's all.
There's no real reason, other than it seems to get people who do it what they want sometimes, in the short term.
But what about SELF DEFENSE...
There's not much of a choice about using physical aggression to defend one's self or others when being physically attacked by someone else, unless one has super powers like becoming invisible or disappearing, or running super-fast. Mind control would help, and flying... also maybe a super-shield made of energy, or a tractor beam to hold attackers in place.
Actually, that's why certain weapons were invented, for self-defense purposes. Especially against larger attackers, or multiple attackers, which used to be very common in most regions, and still are in many.
When being attacked physically, one tends to need to fight back.
But that's about DEFENSE.
What about the person who's ATTACKING?
Why are THEY doing that?
Because.
That's pretty much it.
There's a chemical rush that humans get from physical domination displays, and humans can become addicted to it pretty easily.
There are other physiological and psychological effects that can make a human feel like they have some kind of super-strength, that they're very large, like they're extra-powerful (more than they really are), and that they are very scary and intimidating to other humans (or animals).
Even a feeling of entitlement to being an authority figure is often part of these emotional effects that can come from behaving aggressively toward others.
.
Defense and offense are two different things, but...
Those who seek the chemical high they get from aggression, but don't want to get BLAMED for being aggressive, or get a reputation of being a bully or thug, may do things to create situations where they need to defend themselves and others.
Remember "rumbles" in high school days, on the town line? Or between schools? That's what that was. There's no REASON for it, the "rivalry" was fiction, it was all exaggerated and made up.
Neighboring towns... in the same state... half of their parents were acquaintances or friends... most of them were raised with similar values, beliefs, religions... most of them would have played together a couple of years before... there was zero reality to the BIG RIVALRY.
In fact, when one looks at the situation through the eyes of science, one may notice that some of the adults in the community who have aggression-compulsions and addictions often encouraged these "rivalries", or facilitated them; allowed them to happen.
It was a bunch of kids who discovered that they could get HIGH from creating entirely baseless DRAMA and acting aggressively toward other kids. Often, a couple of kids would instigate the whole thing, exaggerating drama massively, trying to rile up other kids so they'd follow along and participate.
Unfortunately and tragically, sometimes these "rivalries" would get carried away, and serious injuries and deaths have occurred many, many times, in many communities and many generations.
There are MANY kids who have no choice but to grow up in the midst of violence, but that's due to ONE THING: because many of the adults around them are always either acting aggressively, or having to defend themselves and their kids against other humans' aggression behaviors.
It's not strange at all for a child who grows up in an environment where adults are violent and hostile to develop defensive behaviors, to become normalized to aggression, or to find out that one can get a "rush" from aggressive behavior, since they'll probably end up having to defend themselves or someone else sooner or later. It's not strange, either, or RARE, for a child to MIMIC hostile and aggressive behavior of adults around them, and to MIMIC and internalize the adults "reasons" and rationale for their continuous, ever-present aggression.
~Children tend to mimic same-sex parents more because they're trying to build their own personal identities (I'm a girl so I guess I'm supposed to act like the older girls, Mom, Aunt Louise, and Ms. Johnson at school; or I'm a boy so I guess I'm supposed to act like the older boys, Dad, Uncle Ray, and Mr. Brown at school ) ~ but they also mimic the opposite-sex parent, and they continue to mimic other adults around them as they grow older, both inside and outside the home.
Kids who got addicted to the effects they feel in their bodies from aggression can often grow up and keep on doing it, finding groups and situations where they feel that they can justify their aggressive behavior.
If one wants to be in fights all the time, then it's easy to find groups filled with people who also have the same desire, because there's a lot of people who also want to fight all the time. If a person joins a group that's always being challenged or even persecuted by others, then not only will they get to fight, but they'll feel like they're on "defense" instead of "offense".
Humans do this with other individuals too, seeking men and women who have apparent hostility and dominance issues to hang out with or even date.
MANY seek out potential "partners" or platonic "friends" who look like easy targets for dominance and aggression.
Sadly, many get their aggression high from being abusive to their own children, elderly or other relatives, and pets as well.
LOTS of people do it with sports, either participating or being a spectator. They can get their fix from any kind of sport that has rivalry and direct competition. It's definitely not just Hockey...
Baseball, for example, used to be a national pastime, a civilized, fun game for all to play. It's actually against the law to discriminate against female players in Youth leagues, has been for decades. But over years those with aggression addiction have added more and more DRAMA to Major League Baseball (yes, it's on purpose, it sells tickets and boosts ratings), more "macho" male bias (also for reasons of drama), and more dramatic aggression, hostility, and RIVALRY between not only teams, but also players, coaches, umpires, owners, and everyone else involved in the League.
Some people join Gangs so they can always be plugged in to opportunities for aggression.
Some people join Crime rings, organized or otherwise, so they can keep getting a fix.
~Some get JOBS that will ensure they keep getting the opportunity; some of those jobs might surprise many people (most of them require dress clothes or a uniform, and many require a college degree).
Some take up certain sports or hobbies, or become avid (a.k.a. rabid?) FANS.
Some hobby/interest groups admit that they're about aggression addiction, and participation is voluntary and adult only, but many try to pretend they're not; Some of those are very illegal, even downright disgusting, sick, and evil (like sex trafficking, dog fighting, "sport" animal or human hunting).
Some join religious or ANTI-religious groups.
Some join Political parties, groups, "causes" and factions in order to get their aggression-high-fix.
Some join groups that are supposedly about human rights or animal rights, but are really just opportunities to get a RUSH from acting aggressively and displaying dominance and hostility.
Not everyone with an aggression-rush addiction is obvious about it, or pursues relationships or social groups/communities, or jobs, or "hobbies".
Many humans are instead glued to the News that constantly shows aggression and violence, on all levels: personal, local, national and global, and to TV Shows and films that are LOADED with aggression and violence.
There is also a HUGE amount of music of MANY genres that's blatantly serving, catering to, and exploiting aggression and dominance addicts.
IT'S EVERYWHERE BECAUSE SO MANY HUMANS ARE FULL BLOWN ADDICTS.
A predominant "Addict" behavior is DENIAL of one's addiction. Many addicts will become very defensive about their "drug of choice", and even about the existence of it.
(Marijuana users will often passionately defend pot as non-addictive, but so will painkiller users.)
There is very little on Earth that Humans CAN'T become addicted to: one of those things might be air, needing it to biologically survive doesn't count as an addiction. But then again, there are people who really, really seem to like bottled oxygen, even if they don't need to use it for health reasons.
The effects Humans get from aggression can be intense, and span many emotions and levels.
It can give a person a sense of "confidence" that they don't feel otherwise.
It OFTEN gives a person a skewed feeling of self-righteousness and strength.
It can give a person a feeling of LIBERATION, and that can become quite addictive; feeling liberated from oppressive circumstances or people feels fantastic. Some become so addicted to feeling "liberated" that they may put themselves in situations and relationships that have a high potential for toxicity, and therefore they will need once again to "liberate" themselves from another oppressive situation, using aggression.
There are many reasons that humans become addicted to the physiological effects received from AGGRESSION, which INCLUDE the "high" they often get from other people's reactions to their aggression and dominance behaviors.
Many become SO addicted that they AVOID even easy civil resolution of conflicts, either in personal relationships, or with "rival" groups and businesses, or with governmental issues, and even create dramatic "reasons" for opportunities to practice hostility, aggression, or violence.
Why is it still so common in our species even though it's 2014, and humans having relatively high intelligence?
They don't need to do it, so why still do it?
That's all.
There's no real reason, other than it seems to get people who do it what they want sometimes, in the short term.
But what about SELF DEFENSE...
There's not much of a choice about using physical aggression to defend one's self or others when being physically attacked by someone else, unless one has super powers like becoming invisible or disappearing, or running super-fast. Mind control would help, and flying... also maybe a super-shield made of energy, or a tractor beam to hold attackers in place.
Actually, that's why certain weapons were invented, for self-defense purposes. Especially against larger attackers, or multiple attackers, which used to be very common in most regions, and still are in many.
But that's about DEFENSE.
What about the person who's ATTACKING?
Why are THEY doing that?
Because.
There's a chemical rush that humans get from physical domination displays, and humans can become addicted to it pretty easily.
There are other physiological and psychological effects that can make a human feel like they have some kind of super-strength, that they're very large, like they're extra-powerful (more than they really are), and that they are very scary and intimidating to other humans (or animals).
Even a feeling of entitlement to being an authority figure is often part of these emotional effects that can come from behaving aggressively toward others.
.
Defense and offense are two different things, but...
Those who seek the chemical high they get from aggression, but don't want to get BLAMED for being aggressive, or get a reputation of being a bully or thug, may do things to create situations where they need to defend themselves and others.
Remember "rumbles" in high school days, on the town line? Or between schools? That's what that was. There's no REASON for it, the "rivalry" was fiction, it was all exaggerated and made up.
Neighboring towns... in the same state... half of their parents were acquaintances or friends... most of them were raised with similar values, beliefs, religions... most of them would have played together a couple of years before... there was zero reality to the BIG RIVALRY.
In fact, when one looks at the situation through the eyes of science, one may notice that some of the adults in the community who have aggression-compulsions and addictions often encouraged these "rivalries", or facilitated them; allowed them to happen.
It was a bunch of kids who discovered that they could get HIGH from creating entirely baseless DRAMA and acting aggressively toward other kids. Often, a couple of kids would instigate the whole thing, exaggerating drama massively, trying to rile up other kids so they'd follow along and participate.
Unfortunately and tragically, sometimes these "rivalries" would get carried away, and serious injuries and deaths have occurred many, many times, in many communities and many generations.
There are MANY kids who have no choice but to grow up in the midst of violence, but that's due to ONE THING: because many of the adults around them are always either acting aggressively, or having to defend themselves and their kids against other humans' aggression behaviors.
It's not strange at all for a child who grows up in an environment where adults are violent and hostile to develop defensive behaviors, to become normalized to aggression, or to find out that one can get a "rush" from aggressive behavior, since they'll probably end up having to defend themselves or someone else sooner or later. It's not strange, either, or RARE, for a child to MIMIC hostile and aggressive behavior of adults around them, and to MIMIC and internalize the adults "reasons" and rationale for their continuous, ever-present aggression.
~Children tend to mimic same-sex parents more because they're trying to build their own personal identities (I'm a girl so I guess I'm supposed to act like the older girls, Mom, Aunt Louise, and Ms. Johnson at school; or I'm a boy so I guess I'm supposed to act like the older boys, Dad, Uncle Ray, and Mr. Brown at school ) ~ but they also mimic the opposite-sex parent, and they continue to mimic other adults around them as they grow older, both inside and outside the home.
Kids who got addicted to the effects they feel in their bodies from aggression can often grow up and keep on doing it, finding groups and situations where they feel that they can justify their aggressive behavior.
If one wants to be in fights all the time, then it's easy to find groups filled with people who also have the same desire, because there's a lot of people who also want to fight all the time. If a person joins a group that's always being challenged or even persecuted by others, then not only will they get to fight, but they'll feel like they're on "defense" instead of "offense".
Humans do this with other individuals too, seeking men and women who have apparent hostility and dominance issues to hang out with or even date.
MANY seek out potential "partners" or platonic "friends" who look like easy targets for dominance and aggression.
Sadly, many get their aggression high from being abusive to their own children, elderly or other relatives, and pets as well.
LOTS of people do it with sports, either participating or being a spectator. They can get their fix from any kind of sport that has rivalry and direct competition. It's definitely not just Hockey...
Baseball, for example, used to be a national pastime, a civilized, fun game for all to play. It's actually against the law to discriminate against female players in Youth leagues, has been for decades. But over years those with aggression addiction have added more and more DRAMA to Major League Baseball (yes, it's on purpose, it sells tickets and boosts ratings), more "macho" male bias (also for reasons of drama), and more dramatic aggression, hostility, and RIVALRY between not only teams, but also players, coaches, umpires, owners, and everyone else involved in the League.
Some people join Gangs so they can always be plugged in to opportunities for aggression.
Some people join Crime rings, organized or otherwise, so they can keep getting a fix.
~Some get JOBS that will ensure they keep getting the opportunity; some of those jobs might surprise many people (most of them require dress clothes or a uniform, and many require a college degree).
Some take up certain sports or hobbies, or become avid (a.k.a. rabid?) FANS.
Some hobby/interest groups admit that they're about aggression addiction, and participation is voluntary and adult only, but many try to pretend they're not; Some of those are very illegal, even downright disgusting, sick, and evil (like sex trafficking, dog fighting, "sport" animal or human hunting).
Some join religious or ANTI-religious groups.
Some join Political parties, groups, "causes" and factions in order to get their aggression-high-fix.
Some join groups that are supposedly about human rights or animal rights, but are really just opportunities to get a RUSH from acting aggressively and displaying dominance and hostility.
Not everyone with an aggression-rush addiction is obvious about it, or pursues relationships or social groups/communities, or jobs, or "hobbies".
Many humans are instead glued to the News that constantly shows aggression and violence, on all levels: personal, local, national and global, and to TV Shows and films that are LOADED with aggression and violence.
There is also a HUGE amount of music of MANY genres that's blatantly serving, catering to, and exploiting aggression and dominance addicts.
IT'S EVERYWHERE BECAUSE SO MANY HUMANS ARE FULL BLOWN ADDICTS.
A predominant "Addict" behavior is DENIAL of one's addiction. Many addicts will become very defensive about their "drug of choice", and even about the existence of it.
(Marijuana users will often passionately defend pot as non-addictive, but so will painkiller users.)
There is very little on Earth that Humans CAN'T become addicted to: one of those things might be air, needing it to biologically survive doesn't count as an addiction. But then again, there are people who really, really seem to like bottled oxygen, even if they don't need to use it for health reasons.
The effects Humans get from aggression can be intense, and span many emotions and levels.
It can give a person a sense of "confidence" that they don't feel otherwise.
It OFTEN gives a person a skewed feeling of self-righteousness and strength.
It can give a person a feeling of LIBERATION, and that can become quite addictive; feeling liberated from oppressive circumstances or people feels fantastic. Some become so addicted to feeling "liberated" that they may put themselves in situations and relationships that have a high potential for toxicity, and therefore they will need once again to "liberate" themselves from another oppressive situation, using aggression.
There are many reasons that humans become addicted to the physiological effects received from AGGRESSION, which INCLUDE the "high" they often get from other people's reactions to their aggression and dominance behaviors.
Many become SO addicted that they AVOID even easy civil resolution of conflicts, either in personal relationships, or with "rival" groups and businesses, or with governmental issues, and even create dramatic "reasons" for opportunities to practice hostility, aggression, or violence.
