The Ubiquity of Violence: A Search for Origins

Abstract

An inescapable feature of human growth is the toll in lives, including non-human ones, that occurs through the imperfect management of the institutions and technologies we develop. The histories of colonial and economic expansion, along with those of transportation, communications and political institutions, to name a few areas in man's recent growth, are replete with examples of violence, destruction and chapters of human suffering: part of the price for growing complexity. Since the increasing ability to engage in violence can be considered a manifestation of this human growth, then it becomes equally important to examine the phenomena of violence alongside other phenomena of human growth (i.e, warfare, pollution, economy, population, etc.).