Ccandelario,
It
was very interesting to hear your thoughts on violence, and the final
statement you made about nature vs. nurture is definitely intriguing
and I would like it to examine further.
There
is a common belief in society that violence is natural and that the
natural world is filled with competition. Darwin's “survival of the
fittest” is referenced everywhere, and this has become the norm.
Animals are in constant competition for resources, mates, and space.
In order to survive, one most be the strongest to fight-off between
each other and between species. This theory has gone on to provide a
basis for business competition. The violence seen in the animal
kingdom is reason to believe that violence is a natural process and
that individuals are naturally competitive and violent.
The idea that violence and competition is a natural process, however, has
been highly contested. As an environmental studies student, my
courses have taught me many natural species that do not compete with
one another, and instead, cooperate in order to attain common
benefits. For example, a rhinoceros allows a particular bird species
to eat insects off of its back. This cooperative dynamic
(biologically called mutualism) ensures that the bird has food and
the rhino is kept clean. Also, primates cooperate with one another by
eating bugs off one another. As our closest natural relatives, the
cooperation patterns in primates can provide some direction into our
natural instincts as cooperators. According to Professor Allee, who
frequently experiments with animals to test Darwin's “survival of
the fittest” theory, he has come to conclude that " there is a
general principle of automatic cooperation” and there are certain
situations that only those animals that work together tend to
survive[1]. Even the idea of “survival of the fittest” is argued
to be widely misunderstood,
and that the fittest does not always mean the most aggressive and
violent, but can include the most clever or
the most cooperative [2].
Clearly,
the question of nature vs nurture when it comes to violence is a
complicated, yet enticing, question. As you pointed out in your
article, increased media violence has not caused increases in
violence in society and with the evidence I have provided,
cooperation is actually a natural component of the animal kingdom and
that violence is not particularly the only natural way. It seems as
though violence is neither culturally nor naturally developed.
Perhaps, violence and cooperation are both natural but as a result of
laws and regulations, we have learned to become more civilized. We
have moved more towards our cooperative nature and away from
violence. I would not, however, claim that violence is our sole
natural instinct because it is evident that cooperation is possible.
[1] Thomsen,
Arnold; Allee, W. C. (Apr. 1925. Dec. 1964). Review of
"Social Life of Animals". The
Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology.
34. 3: 411-413.
[2]
Le Page, Michael. "Evolution myths: 'Survival of the
fittest' justifies 'everyone for themselves'." New
Scientist. April 16, 2008. Retrieved on March 19, 2012.
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