War has been one of the constants of human civilization. In times when violence has been unavoidable, it makes sense to me. The trouble is, we all define “unavoidable” differently. We also often obscure the truth of our motives, both as individuals and as nations.
Especially with the advent of social media and the Internet, the rapid exchange of info has accelerated the flow of opinions and manipulation. We see an intensification of humans believing different things, classifying a whole group of “non-believers” (which is sometimes a race or nation) and then justifying violence to subdue or eradicate these non-believers.
Unless and until we, both individually and as a collective, prioritize curiosity over correctness, we don’t have much hope of living together as people with different stories and beliefs. Until we agree on what justifies violence, we will likely continue to try to compete with another to take the first shot….and misfire.
Survival and violence are both part of the human mind— but so is rationality.