The ‘Killer Instinct’

We have seen some of the underpinnings of the notion that human attitudes and behaviors are limited to an alleged animal inheritance and the laws assumed to operate in nature. Science has already gone beyond the theories on which this view of man was based, and has replaced them with others that are closer to reality. However, many of the consequences of these assumptions linger on in the form of inherited mental models. One of these is the view according to which man is aggressive and violent by nature.

An argument that is often put forward to justify war and other acts of violence is that they are determined by a 'killer instinct' in human beings. Some ethologists –scientists who study animal behavior– have proposed the existence of human instincts for territorialism, aggression and war. which they suggest could have been inherited during our evolution from other animal species.

However, we have wandered so far from the other species in the evolutionary process that their behavior has little or nothing to do with ours. Even if we did share some common ancestor millions of years ago, each species has gone its own way since then in response to its peculiar living conditions.

When a carnivorous animal goes hunting for food, it is no more a ‘murderer’ than when one of us goes to the store to buy meat. War is not a natural act, but a cultural invention of human beings. No other species makes war, whether within the same species or with other species, aside from human beings. In fact, several of the primate species that are most similar to humans evince remarkably peaceful behavior.

What is instinct? It is scientifically defined as a repetitive pattern of specific and often complex behaviors that are common to an entire species, automatic, irresistible, unalterable, and do not depend on learning. None of the human behaviors that scientists have studied thus far comply with this definition, so it is currently believed that human beings are entirely devoid of instincts.

Let us not confuse instincts with reflexes, biological predispositions and impulses. A reflex is a simple, automatic reaction to a stimulus, which does not involve the higher functions of the brain but comes directly from the spinal cord or even more local nerves, such as the kick caused by striking just below the kneecap. A biological predisposition is an innate behavior that is more complex than a reflex and requires learning to express itself, such as walking or speaking. An impulse or drive is rooted in a biological need such as hunger and grows in intensity until it is satisfied.

The attitudes of aggression, competition and greed, so common in today’s society, do not fulfill any of these definitions. Rather, they involve a broad range of alternative, culturally established behaviors. They are only a few of the many options available, one of the many ways we can respond to a given situation, while caring, cooperation and generosity are the ones that best meet our collective needs on the long run.

Soldiers are often represented as war machines, motivated by an inner force that drives them to kill in cold blood, without a thought for their own lives. However, under normal conditions, youth are entirely devoid of these murderous, suicidal feelings and behaviors. They must be psychologically 'rewired’ through conditioning and training, to exchange sensible rationality for blind obedience, human solidarity for nationalistic fanaticism, and reflexive prudence for suicidal fervor. If human beings had a ‘killer instinct’, such reprogramming would not be necessary.

Rather, for war to appear as a socio-structural invention of the modern state, we have had to go beyond instinct and develop the intelligence capable of achieving such a profound alteration of our natural leanings towards peace that normally characterize human beings. As the Seville Statement on Violence says,

It is scientifically incorrect when people say that war is caused by ‘instinct’… Modern war involves institutional use of personal characteristics such as obedience, suggestibility and idealism, social skills such as language, and rational considerations such as cost-calculation, planning and information processing.

For further information on this topic by the same author, click here.