From the issue dated September 28, 2001
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Our Biological NatureBy DAVID P. BARASH
They make clear as well that our elaborate technological and cultural constructs are vulnerable -- not only to terrorist attacks, but also, at a deeper level, to primitive anger and the equally primitive desire for revenge (by "us" no less than "them"). It has become a truism that war is now increasingly likely to be "asymmetrical," involving well-armed, wealthy, yet paradoxically vulnerable countries (notably the United States) on the one hand, and angry, disaffected, impoverished, yet paradoxically empowered nonstate actors on the other. The "need" for retaliation is bruited about, such that it seems beyond question, although an evolutionary and "human nature" perspective would ask why such a need exists, and whether it is truly justified, or likely to be counterproductive. If it is human nature to seek revenge, then it seems that an equally human nature motivated the perpetrators, who perceive themselves to be seeking revenge. If the United States, in its righteous anger, will "make no distinction between terrorists and those who harbor them" -- in the words of President Bush -- then, in view of the fact that many people consider the United States to be a terrorist state, weren't the perpetrators following just such a policy in attacking innocent civilians -- making no distinction between their view of the terrorists (our government, our country) and those who harbor them (ourselves)? When countries and international alliances act, it is easy to attribute their behavior to vast, impersonal forces (historical, ideological, economic, geopolitical); but when lethally disaffected individuals act, even as we castigate them for "inhuman" behavior, we cannot avoid a painful whiff of their humanity, especially as the attacks of September 11 provoke cries for a Western, Northern jihad against the East, the South, those "monsters" whom we too readily designate as less than human. It is ironic that as society grows more complex and more alienating, our violent conflicts may take on a more personal face: anger, revenge, envy, intolerance, despair. We have been evolving for more than four billion years, and -- if we and our descendants are lucky -- will continue doing so for some time to come. Along the way, our biological natures (ancient, slow-to-adjust, but nonetheless powerful and fundamental) must somehow come to terms with our cultural creations: the painful North-South economic divide, the susceptibility of great cities to chaos, and the delicate balancing of freedom and security, greed and equity, high-tech marvels and low-tech limbic systems. Individual human beings, with their weaknesses no less than their strengths, are very much "in the loop." David P. Barash is a professor of psychology at the University of Washington. http://chronicle.com Section: The Chronicle Review Page: B10
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Copyright © 2001 by The Chronicle of Higher Education
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Reflections on the Fractured Landscape |
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