Although 2022 was marked by a surge of violence in one of its most terrible forms—armed conflict—within the framework of our work on studying violence in human relationships and society, it was not without achievements in the opposite, better direction, aimed against violence. Previously, when arguing that violence should be called a deviation and a pathology rather than a natural social phenomenon, we relied only on individual facts and observations that did not demonstrate the full picture of what was happening. This could have caused distrust in such assertions given the brutal events still observed in human society.
But now everything has changed. We can confidently call the existence of a violence inhibition mechanism not just a hypothesis and a theory, but an indisputable fact. Evolutionary, archaeological, anthropological, military, psychological, neurophysiological, genetic, and many other pieces of evidence—demonstrating the same conclusions and forming a complete system that explains everything regarding violence—only confirm this. Violence is undoubtedly a pathological form of behavior, the result of a breakdown of a person’s internal inhibitors of aggression, due to which they stop experiencing a reaction of rejection and resistance to causing harm to other people. And the reason we observe so much violence in society is only because it exerts an enormous influence—even one violent person in certain circumstances is capable of causing harm to thousands of other, peaceful people.
All the evidence against the position that justifies and normalizes violence has been successfully gathered in one place—on the website Antiviolence.io. The main material of the site begins with definitions of the concepts of aggression, violence, and self-defense. Then we move to archaeological and anthropological evidence, examine cases of genocides, debunk various myths about violence, and confirm that in any war, even the most brutal one, never more than 2% of soldiers with psychopathic predispositions experience no resistance to committing murder, and in general, the overwhelming majority of people never kill or attempt to kill anyone. Further, we examine the evolutionary reasons for the emergence of the violence inhibitor in animals and humans, and become acquainted with a model that explains in detail how this mechanism functions.
Based on neurophysiological and genetic evidence, we conclude that people capable of easily committing violence should be treated as mentally ill and pathological personalities in need of therapy to restore the function of the violence inhibitor. Such therapy could contribute to the complete eradication of the pathology of violence from human relationships and society.
We have also not ignored many other questions about violence, which you can explore on the same website or in the materials of this channel. Of course, we will have to examine many more topics and problems, as it is impossible to answer all questions at once. But we have at least already created a solid foundation for the continuation of our activities without encountering serious controversial points.
I would like to congratulate you all on the upcoming New Year! In the coming year, we must definitely advance even further in understanding the problem of violence and how this phenomenon can be eradicated. And of course, how to popularize this understanding among an even greater number of people, which will undoubtedly only bring us closer to achieving a free, non-violent society. Stay with us in the coming year so as not to miss this!
