Nightlife: At Our Core

Dec 31, 2014
2 min read

The author of The Lord of the Flies believed that, when left to our own devices, humans would tumble down into chaos and violence. That at our core, we are the violent animals that we are supposed to be better than. And I can't help but wonder, is he right? In all the books and movies, the remains of humanity after some great disaster always try to create order, and even when there is an illusion of said order, there is always some sort of chaos swirling just under the surface.

And in order to survive, humans have done terrible things - from killing others so that they can live to resorting to eating their best friend's remains in times of unthinkable hunger.

But if, at our core, we are monsters, why (in comparison to the rest of the population) to so few people show it? You have criminals, killers, etc. But for the most part, people seem to live stable, happy lives. Is it because it is so discouraged in this day and age to act as wild as we may be?

Or - here's a dark thought - has it been, I don't know - slowly bred out of us? Something that, because we aren't sleeping in caves and eating raw meat anymore, we have stopped needing? Is this violent nature an old instinct now buried deep in our minds that, for the most part, remains unseen, unnoticed? Something that will only start to control us when we claw for survival? In moments of teen rebellion or wild nights out, or going with the group in some rush, like storming the court after a basketball game... the dangerous, free, feeling of being powerful and in control... is that a glimpse of this violent, almost killer instinct?

And when all rules go out the window, when we are left alone, will we give in?

I'd like to say that I wouldn't. You probably would to. But honestly? I don't know. Maybe I would. Maybe, if I was left alone with my classmates on a deserted island, I would start putting pigs' heads on sticks too.

And, what if this is - as I guess it is - some sort of survival instinct? Because, if they're supposed to keep you alive, that can't be all bad, right?

At our core, are humans violent? Yes. I think so. We're predetors, after all: We are made to hunt. We have canines - we're made to eat meat. And what we lack in natural survival tools (i.e. claws, camo, etc.) we make up for in an intelligence vastly superior to any animal on our little green and blue planet. We need to be violent. We need to be tough. Or, going back to my survival theory, we used to need to be. I guess we still do now, but in different ways. Our world, though, in progressing faster than our brains can. Evolution hasn't quite caught up with us yet.

Let's hope there aren't any plane crashes tonight. I would hate for you to have to test my theory, dear readers.