Human nature and aggression (2001)
15. Human nature is often learned experience
I always found in any discussion, on war. Inevitably, any discussion on war. At certain point in the discussion, somebody would say, Oh well, its human nature. And, ah, well, first of all from my own experience, ah, and I still have to tell this to people, because there still people who talked about the desire of young men to go to war, the thrill it is for young men to be in war, to shoot their guns to kill, then I thought about my own experience in the air force, and it was very clear to me, looking around all these guys around me, who are dropping bombs, and who are killing people, that did not come from inside, it did not come from, oh, god, how good it would be to kill some people today, you know, there was no urge to kill, even though, they were the enemy. No, ah, what it came from, was simply we had been trained, ah, and also we had been told it's a good war, we've been told we are the good guys, they are the bad guys, it will be bad if they won, and good if we win, we've got to drop the bombs, and so we'll do it, and do it as well as we can, there was no spontaneous urge to kill. Ahm, and ..., that's my own personal experience. Simply recoiled at the idea that, ah, soldiers, ah, have this kind of killing instinct, or the young men have this killing instinct. And then when I got away from my own experiences. And just began to study history, history of war. Ah, some thing became clear to me. And that is, wars don't take place out of the rush of a population demanding war. It isn't the population that demands war. It's the leaders who demand war, and who prepare the population for war. I mean it's, ah, world war one, you didn't, you didn't, have the American people clamouring for the United states to go to war. Not at all. In fact, if anything it was the opposite. People did not want to go to war. That's why Wooddrow Wilson when he was campaigning in 1916, the war in Europe was on, and the question was, will the United states get into it, And, and, Wilson campaigning in 1916, and knowing this would be popular thing to say, said, no. Ah, and, and, ah, ah, we are not going to go to war. Then, he's elected. And then, almost immediately, he calls upon the nation to go to war. But the nation does not response immediately. Ah, ... if there was a spontaneous urge to kill, why would they need a draft. Ah, we would just take advantage of natural desire of people to kill, and give them an opportunity. But no, you have to draft people. Ah, you have to do two things really, in order to to mobilize an army for war. Ah, you have to, ah, persuade them, that this is good thing to do, a noble thing to do. And you have to work very hard to persuade them. Because after all, ah, they are going to risk their lives. Ah, and so, world war one, a massive propaganda campaign was mounted by the Wilson's administration. You know, they hired number one ... public relation person in the country to to organize, you know, 75,000 (seventy five thousand) speakers, to go around country, ah, to give speeches, every where in the country, and and the war spirit was built up, built up, built up, and atrosity stories, ah, the Huns, the Kaiser, ah, the ah, ah, really inflaming the public, only then, was it possible, ah, to really mobilize the nation for war, so you have on the one hand, you have the, the ah, the propaganda campaign. On the other hand, you have, ah, the coercion, the draft, and the punishment. You, you, ah, if you are neither seduced by the propaganda nor compell to go by the draft, and if you resist, you will go jail. Ah, so it takes, in other word, powerful, powerful, inducement and threats to mobilize the young population of the nation for war. And if you have a spontaneous urge for war, you wouldn't have to do that. Ah mmm, and and in fact, there's no scientific evidence. I mean, when I got interested in the question of human nature, I would sort of look at the work of anthropologists, zoologists, you know. And I would read Conrad Lorrenze (sp?), On aggression, who is, ahmm, ah, you know, zoologists. Ah, and I would read the work of anthropologist, study different groups of people, primitive tribe as we call them, and, and it was clear to me from looking at the works of anthropologist, there were some tribes that were fierce and some tribes that were peaceful, it clearly wasn't a universal quality, it depended upon the conditions on which they lived. And er this guy, Colin Turnbold wrote books about the forest people and the mountain people. And the forest people, pygmies, in the forest, lived in a kind of conditions which made them violent. The people in the mountains were living under a different kind of conditions and they were peaceful. So, you know I just didn't see any scientific evidence. And even when some body would refer me to the work of a scientist, like E. O. Wilson, Edward Wilson at Harvard, who wrote a book about sociobiology. Then he wrote a book, On human nature. And he said, well, here is a very smart scientist, and he believe, the instinct for aggression. And so I read his book, E. O. Wilson book. And, it was ..., and when I read it, it was very clear to me, no, that's not quite true. That, Wilson, even though he talks about propensity for aggression said, the environment determines whether any kind of propensity that you have is acted out. And, also the word, aggression, is a very ambiguous term. Er, because you can take out the aggression in many ways. You don't have to take it out by killing people. And all subject to environmental circumstances. So, to me, what was clear, was that, there was a very important political consequence of this belief in human nature as a basis for war and violence. Because of consequence, in believing that war come as a result in human nature, to place the blame for wars on individual people, on citizenry. And to take the blame away from the leaders of the nation, who are driving the country into war.
which is probably why we use the term, human nature
That's right. That's right.
er, so then begin, very important for me, to knock down, argue against that idea, when ever I could. Because it's an idea that's so deep in grain in people. Because, it's ..., it had this insidious effect of turning their attention away from the policy maker toward themselves. It's like telling the poor that you're poor because of your own faults, and not because you lived in a society in which the wealth is distributed very unjustly.
End.
source:
audio visual interview with Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn : you can't be neutral on a moving train
the life and times of historian, activist and author of ‘A people's history of the united states’
This film looks at the life of renowned historian, activist, and author Howard Zinn.
bombardier in World war II
format: DVD = digital video disc
A film by Debb Ellis and Denis Mueller
narrated by Matt Damon
www.howardzinn.org
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πόλλ' οἶδ' ἀλώπηξ,ἀλλ' ἐχῖνος ἓν μέγα πόλλ' οἶδ' ἀλώπηξ,ἀλλ' ἐχῖνος ἓν μέγα
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(Ackoff's best : his classic writings on management, Russell L. Ackoff., © 1999, hardcover, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., p.139)
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the publisher.
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We offer it for informative purposes to help cope with health situations and do not claim this book furnishes information as to an effective treatment or cure of the disease discussed ─ according to currently accepted medical opinion.
Although it is your right to adopt your own dietary and treating pattern, never the less suggestions offered in this book should not be applied to a specific individual except by his or her doctor who would be familiar with individual requirements and any possible complication. Never attempt a lengthy fast without competent professional supervision.
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*2 “This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.”
──From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations
(Ackoff's best : his classic writings on management, Russell L. Ackoff., © 1999, hardcover, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., p.139)
“This [copy & paste reference note] is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is [archive] with the understanding that the [researcher, investigator] is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.”
──From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations
--
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the publisher.
The W. Edwards Deming Institute. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States copyright act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C., section 107, some material is provided without permission from the copyright owner, only for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of federal copyright laws. These materials may not be distributed further, except for "fair use," without permission of the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
notice: Do not purchase this book with the hopes of curing cancer or any other chronic disease
We offer it for informative purposes to help cope with health situations and do not claim this book furnishes information as to an effective treatment or cure of the disease discussed ─ according to currently accepted medical opinion.
Although it is your right to adopt your own dietary and treating pattern, never the less suggestions offered in this book should not be applied to a specific individual except by his or her doctor who would be familiar with individual requirements and any possible complication. Never attempt a lengthy fast without competent professional supervision.
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