Violence Is So Primitive
This is Just a quick thought about violence. As I was in the process of thinking about conflicts, how and why they occur, and how they can be resolved, I’ve come to the conclusion (probably not an original one) that violence is truly primitive. I think about this subject often and feel passionately about it because I have a violent history. I’ve seen it, been affected by it and have participated in it. Weather it be physical, psychological or emotional violence, I’ve participated in it–probably more so than most. So I know a little bit about violence and how it works.
Based on my experience, it seems to me that when certain situations escalate to the point of violence (I’m thinking here of forms of verbal, physical or mental abuse), it could be said that (and this is increasingly obvious to me) the people involved have reached their intellectual limits. When we stop being civil and begin verbally, physically and emotionally abusing each other, we have essentially resorted back to primitive ways of dealing with problems. We have ceased to communicate, forgotten about love, and commenced in seeking to gain respect through violent means. When we hit this road block, we run out of words to use in order to communicate our ideas and our emotions naturally take over. Still attempting to make our points clear, we draw on our endless reserve of profanity and accusatory comments to make up for our loss of sophistication and civility. We may even get physical. At this point all thinking has stopped, we’re no longer thinking creatures. Thoughtfulness is replaced with thoughtlessness.
The obvious question to ask here is this: Is violence not the most extreme manifestation of our most primal insticts? I would say yes.
I’m sure there are lots of psychological studies that speak about this issue and say essentially what I just wrote. But coming to this conclusion on my own has helped me and will hopefully continue to help me to deal with conflicts in my life. I guess for me it really is a matter of not letting my primitive instincts take over. This includes striving for a continuous focus upon love and not letting myself become thoughtless. No matter what.
Painting by Ashley Wood
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