Violence... The story so far

Research, begun on 12 Sept 2001, has been a work in progress ever since. Outlook for peace all over the world looks dim any time soon. But there is reason for hope in the longer term:


How to handle this built-in genetic conflict is the challenge of our times. Societies that accent the nurture side of of the equation while inhibiting our aggressive-animal nature become more peaceful thereby. What follows summarizes the basic violent side while outlining some avenues that appear to be useful.

A common perception is that humanity is basically violent. Indeed it is, as a founder of this web site observed.


While all that is true enough, it is only part of the story. More often than not, people prefer peaceful living over violence. Yet we are preoccupied with violence. This is primarily because: throughout history, the victorious were often violent and they wrote or influenced the writing of history. Peaceful victors, and there were many, simply never saw fit to aggrandize their achievements. The fact remains that most nations today are peaceful. And among the less peaceful nations, there are many pockets of peacefulness. So even without formal study, many societies have found answers that work for them. Along the way, numerous insightful and important people have made contributions to the dual questions, Why and Why Not? Some of the vital researchers are listed here.

Peace research on why we are violent might include:

Roadtopeace	Reference
Richard Dawkins:	Renders Evolution in exciting form; behavior is in the genes. The World of Richard Dawkins.
Theodor Adorno et. al.:	Describes Authoritarian Personality: excessive conformity, intolerant, insecure, rigid and stereotyped thought patterns, submissive, superstitious. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Stanley Milgram:	Illustrated strength of Authoritarianism and dangers of being overly obedient. The Milgram Experiment.
Gene Sharp:	Projects Milgram's results into diplomacy and political science. Scholar of Strategic Nonviolence.
Jerry M Burger:	Confirms Milgram's results minus the objections Milgram's critics raised. Milgram's Famous Studies Replicated.
Phillip Zimbardo:	Individualizes Adorno and Milgram conclusions; illustrates how they lead to Abu-Ghraib behavior. The Lucifer Effect.
Bob Altemeyer:	Globalizes authoritarianism behavior to world politics. Simplified Adorno's construction to: aggression, conventionalism, obedience. The Authoritarian Specter.
John Dean:	Shows Neocon behavior arises from Altemeyer's construction. Conservatives Without Conscience.
Jessica Stern:	Gets to the root causes of terrorism. Why Religious Militants Kill.
Martha Stout:	How sociopaths gain control over authoritarians. The Sociopath Next Door.
Robert Hare:	Verifies Stout, if any is needed. Expert on the Psychopath
Justin Frank:	Ties Bush's irresponsible governance to narcissism, closely related sociopathology and psychopathology. Bush on the Couch
Andrew Bacevich:	Discusses the realities of power and its underpinnings. What Hath Bush Wrought.

Reasons for optimism:

Roadtopeace	Reference
Hope	Israelis & Palestinians coexist peacefully. Oasis of Peace
Ethnic Integation	Found this cure for violence in four paired-cities in India. Ashutosh Varshney
Tokyo: A Safe City	-Op Ed: Eastern & Western Religious Harmony exists in Japan. Kuhara
Dialogue	Leader in Dialogue in resolving conflict. William Isaacs
Internal Locus of Control	Controls oneself; immune to propaganda. What is Locus of Control