Cain's Curse: How Violence Shapes the World (Part 1)

Cain Leadeth Abel to Death.
Painting by  James Tissot.

In the biblical Book of Genesis, Cain was the first-born son of Adam and Eve, followed by Abel. One day, they both offered a sacrifice to please God. God accepted Abel's sacrifice while rejecting Cain's. Overcome by envy and anger, Cain leads his brother to the fields and there, overcome by jealousy and anger, he kills him. The first son of man is a murderer. History doomed to repeat itself; a sustained loop of tragedy and despair. Violence and hatred. Envy and murder. One could say we were made for this, if nothing else.

Cain, ashamed of his actions, wanders the Earth and builds a city, fathering a line of human descendants beginning with Enoch. Some interpretations of the biblical account consider him to be the originator of envy, anger and violence. It is no surprise then, that we are born of the same blood, craving the blood of our own. The sin of Cain immortalised.

In Robert Louis Stevenson's memorable novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the protagonist Dr Jekyll argues that humans possess a peculiar duality of nature, wherein our human side is in a state of perpetual struggle against the feral half. We are painfully aware of the fact that much of our lives are spent in an effort to mitigate the doings of our primitive self.

Shackled by societal norms and laws galore, we play the part of an ideal being, the beast within tugging away at the chains that bind it. What then, frees the beast that lurks within? What causes the monster to show itself in moments of emotional volatility? We'll take a look at these questions through the lens of rational reasoning.

I apologise for borrowing elements mythology and classic literature in an attempt to add some colour to the rather dull argument I am to present henceforth. However, I must admit that a dramatic representation of the matter does contribute positively to the present article.

Then, shunning all metaphorical ambiguity, we shall now move on to the physical origins of aggression. 

SCORN: Waking the Demon

Although love is showered upon with praises from the naive, perhaps no emotion has altered the course of human history as much as the thousand forms of human aggression. Hatred, envy, violence, oppression; all manifestations of a single form. However, I shall first be turning my attention to the most common form of aggression; the intent to harm another, the impulsive urge to inflict injury upon another in moments of passion.

When the bestial whims of a man are provoked, a certain impulse to cause harm arises almost autonomously, almost a reflex. The body fuming with rage, lips and limbs quivering; in these moments, one often loses control of their most valuable possession: their rational mind. The rap of a cane on a disobliging student's hand, the key scratch on your car door, the angry neighbour's trash in your backyard. How often have we returned from the clutches of anger to realise our own idiocy? The more superstitious among us would attribute such a loss of character to the devil. But what could be the most reasonable explanation for such an act?

The answer, not too surprising, is again: adrenaline. Adrenaline has evolved as a means to protect an organism from situations that involve an excess of external stimuli. Called the flight, fright or fight hormone, it causes the heartbeat to rise, blood vessels to dilate, and increases blood flow to the muscles. The resulting altered state of the body leads us into an emotive state of being. A heightened physical response to external stimuli makes for an asymmetry between cause and effect, leading us to act in a way that is not representative of us.

From an evolutionary perspective, the described response to an emotionally taxing situation does sound like an obvious advantage. A deer when faced with the roar of a lion, must either fight it, run away or cave in to fear. All responses managed by one little chemical surfing our nerve cells. Coming back to human society, someone who is known to have outbursts of a violent nature would be isolated and ostracised. The fact that anyone who is under the spell of anger cannot possibly maintain a human-like composure makes it all the more ugly in the eyes of reasonable fellow men.

However, I would like to propose that another form of aggression exists, infinitely more putrid than the one described here. Here, I'd like to introduce the terms micro-aggression and macro-aggression. What we have described so far are examples of micro-aggression.

In contrast, macro-aggression includes systematic acts of violence directed towards a different race, culture, gender, etc. While micro-aggression can be reasonably justified as an acting of losing oneself in a moment of passion, how could one possibly explain the countless acts of violence, systematically committed for generations in the name of race, religion or politics?

The unsuspected culprit behind the phenomenon will be unveiled in the next post, where I shall be commenting on the forms of macro-aggression while talking about how love and hate are both two sides of the same coin. In the meanwhile, if you have any comments and feedback, I'd be gladly willing to receive them.

And, oh! Merry Christmas! 

L*VE: A Necessary Evil?

Erastes (lover) and eromenos (beloved) kissing, ca. 480 BC.

It has all happened before. Butterflies flutter in the pit of your stomach. Flushed cheeks. Your pupils dilated, begging every ray of light to burn the image of your beloved onto every corner of your mind. You're in love. Or was that infatuation you felt? All the same, more of the same.

You've seen people come together, held by a string of habit and morbid dependence. Someone you held as a paragon of independence is reduced to an accessory, a trinket to be worn on their partner's arm. That one friend who scoffed at the idea of romance is now writing poetry. Inseparable. Dependent. Attached. Insufferable.

What forces bring about these ungodly changes in one's demeanour?

Students of philosophy have spent years attempting to understand love in its various forms. One of my favourite philosophical texts on the subject is "The Symposium" by Plato, which introduces Plato's "Ladder of Love". However, most of the text was muddled with metaphors laced with Greek mythology and romanticisation of Eros, the Greek God of Love. This does a great disservice to the attempt at truly understanding any human emotion.

To truly understand man, one must detach oneself from anything that could possibly muddle their rationality. In true sense, then, one must attempt to renounce any form of romanticism as a stepping stone to explaining the human condition. This is what I intend to do with the following text. Albeit a brief account, I hope that it shall help illuminate the subject with some clarity.

The Meeting
Humans are visual animals. Whether or not we accept this uncomfortable truth is another matter, entirely. Like most things in life that we desire, it is a prerequisite for our romantic partners to be aesthetically pleasing. At first, it may seem to be an evolutionary remnant, faithfully passed down through the generations like a family secret that slowly grows into common knowledge. Symmetrical faces are preferred over asymmetrical ones, slimmer body types are preferred over bulky ones, so on and so forth.

Based on our affinity towards visual characteristics, our mate-seeking rituals have evolved accordingly. Nightclubs, dance bars and parties; rendezvous points for those seeking romantic company, remind one of 'lek', where the male dances intoxicated, fluffing his proverbial feathers to get the bird. All this would seem rather primitive, if only we weren't habituated to it through constant reinforcement.

This is where we fall into our first trap. When we look at a "beautiful" face, our brain receives a dose of dopamine. Dopamine, commonly referred to as a 'feel-good' neurotransmitter, acts like a drug, reinforcing the mesolimbic pathway; turning you into a junkie craving the sight of your beloved. Soon, you are hooked into a chain of events that turn out to be rather regrettable. The late night calls, the hollow promises, the transparent excuses; we've all been there.

The Prosthetic Limb
Soon enough, you're taken over by another monster, more formidable than the previous one. Attachment.

You have an insatiable desire to remain in close proximity of your faithful beloved, counting the stars and picking names for your future children over warm cups of tea. 'But no,' you might say, 'I truly do love them'. It might seem so, for when we stumbled upon the discovery of love, we were profoundly ignorant of the puppet masters pulling our strings.

Oxytocin and vasopressin are hormones responsible for attachment in females and males, respectively. Secreted mostly during sexual activity and physical contact, it forms the basis of the emotional attachment that we experience and associate with the romantic. This strengthens the dating ritual to a point where both partners turn into a parasite, a prosthetic limb that takes the place of what we think is missing. And so, it goes on. Until the inevitable.

The Excision
Months, years and decades fly by. Picking apart the enigma you once admired is not what it seemed all those years ago. The romance fades, or rather, you crave the dopamine surge that you've been denied by habituating yourself to your partner. At that point, you come across someone who shows an interest in you. Those kind eyes, they seem to understand you. That smile, they seem to empathise with you. The countless chemicals tickling your brain, you reach out for the forbidden fruit.

And then, it happens. The excision. Countless moments of affection swept away by a tide of mindless infatuation and thrill-seeking. The cycle continues, leaving one or both the involved individuals in a state of anguish and despair. The constant cycle of agitation and relief strengthens the ties with their new partner, creating what appears to be a stronger bond between them. The limb has been excised, to be replaced by a newer, shinier one. Until it grows old with habit and cracks under the colossal weight of time.

However, there are exceptions. Some people stay, fearing the harsh chill of loneliness. Some stay out of sincerity, fearing sin or society; or both. But they are all a speck in the kaleidoscope called mankind. And they all deserve the comfort of a warm embrace, a sincere kiss. And so, we hold on. Convincing ourselves that it means something more than the flick of a switch. A ripple in the mind.

NOTE
Kindly accept my sincerest apologies for delaying the article for more than what would be a reasonable amount of time. I have been otherwise occupied with several undertakings which I choose not to disclose.

I have always been rather dismissive of romantic love, considering it to be a hobby for humans who cannot bear the brunt of solitude. I, however, do not wish to undermine your genuine feelings of affection towards the love of your life.

My next article would feature my reflections on the nature of aggression from a rational perspective.