There is no human society that has stopped engaging in strife. Why are there always volunteers willing to fight? Why is it easy to form irreconcilable sides? These are questions that must be asked to prevent and alleviate as much as possible the human tendency to devastate and destroy. The idea for this essay came from a script by Jorge Carrasco to produce a documentary series for television. In this way, both authors coordinated in a succession of chapters; some written by the author of Digital Cinema and Television. Technical manual and La hora de Las Meninas, and others by the professor of Psychiatry at the UAB Adolf Tobeña, author of books such as Anatomy of human aggression and The erotic brain.
Indiscriminate killings have been taking place since the dawn of time. Remains of extreme violence have been found in Sweden on probably defenseless humans, more than six thousand years ago; also in Croatia and in pre-Columbian America. Outbursts of violence are studied in social neuroscience and in neuroimaging laboratories, as processes that occur in the nervous system. The testosterone and oxytocin systems are analyzed as gears that regulate combativeness. If hatred is accompanied by the spirit of revenge, the feeling that is associated with the act of revenge or retaliation is pleasure.
There are prefabricated hatreds that are transmitted from parents to children and consolidate a memory of false memories of grievances. These influences give rise to hostile impulses for reparation that nourish the desire to harm the enemy. Many individuals are thus convinced of fulfilling a moral or prosocial function with their identity or ideological homeland. A radical and emotional division is established between us and them, and the springs of combative tribalism are activated. In this way, both a desire to cooperate generously with one's own, and in the face of the threat of others, is generated, as well as a dehumanization of these, who, stripped of privacy, become considered subhuman. An infinite war that is fueled by indifference to the suffering of others.
The authors study the predisposition to enroll in combat. In this association, and generally: the simplest and least curious prefer violent tactics; Altruistic and helpful people prefer non-violent ways. In any case, once ideological intolerance is established, “mental rigidity, doctrinal extremism of any kind and tribalism tend to go together.” To understand the roles in combative cells, it is worth noting the usefulness of some axes in the temperamental profiles: dominance and ambition/submission and obedience; tribal selfishness/altruism; Machiavellianism and insensitivity/gullibility and empathy. Leaders with drag power can induce followers to perpetrate.
It is attacked and exterminated because it is worth it. Assuming standards of civilized conduct and improvements in surveillance, deterrence and sanctions play a preventive role in conflict resolution.
Adolf Tobeña and Jorge Carrasco The Infinite War Platform 352 pages 24 euros
