Pattern-chaser wrote: ↑October 8th, 2024, 7:33 amI disagree with the idea that bullying is "something that most mature adults also employ widely". I only bully insects and larvae that encroach my space. I assume that you and Mo don't bully other chordates either (maybe mice and rats in some circumstances). Why not?Sy Borg wrote: ↑October 7th, 2024, 4:18 pm Humans have always been violent. Skulls of early hominids commonly showed signs of a violent demise. Other highly intelligent animals, such as chimps (our closest relative) and dolphins are also notably violent. All three species are predators. Predators, by basically definition, prey on those whom they can overpower.This is disturbing, but I can't fault it. It's emerging that we think bullying is intrinsic to humanity. And so it is reasonable to assume we're not going to get rid of it any time soon. Our only saving grace is that co-operation, even in the context of bullying, is also what we do. But I am disappointed to consciously realise that bullying is not some childish aberration that we grow out of, it's something that most mature adults also employ widely. 😢
The world is an inherently violent place - it's a matter of kill or be killed. The biosphere has basically eaten itself into sophistication over around 3.8 billion years. Warfare was common in hunter gatherer groups and it continues to be more common, if less ubiquitous.
However, there is a survival advantage to cooperation. Large cooperative groups will defeat more fractured groups. So more large groups with specialised roles will proliferate than smaller, less cooperative ones. Instead of committing violence personally, most denizens of huge human colonies now only perform violence by proxy via the military, police, farms, slaughterhouses, prisons, security firms, etc. But the violence is still ours, committed every day on our behalf.
As a matter of interest, I created the first "professional looking" anti-bullying website on the net to seriously consider and analyse the legal aspects of workplace bullying, and also designed graphic anti-bullying posters. It's one of the few times I've made myself useful in this life.
Because, as per my above post, other people have the role of bullying so that societies can survive. Our proxies bully so that the rest of us don't have to.
There are things that can be done to reduce bullying within society - like changing schooling to reduce exposure of vulnerable children to bullies - but these usually end up in the too-hard-basket, and vested interests will resist such changes.