I’m trying to wrap my head around “excessive violence” and “reasonable use of power” and related terms. I wrote a post about some of the underlying mechanisms, and while thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that the information we have in a situation contributes a lot on how we react.
To determine what is adequate or appropriate or reasonable, we rely on information. Take the Iraq war as an example. The information was that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and wanted to use them, so the “reasonable reaction” was to wage war on him. At least for the people in power back then, and yes, there are many nuances to it, but I think you get the idea.
My brother asked: “If you were a soldier in the haze and someone pointed something that looks like a gun barrel at you – what would you do?”
That is a great question. Can I see clearly, or is everything full of tear gas? What do I know about the weapons and methods that the “others” are fighting with? How afraid am I? Do I have control over myself and am well trained for this kind of conflict, or am I poorly trained and full of adrenaline?
The manipulation of information during the strike was impressive. On both sides. There were claims that one of the trucks from the first “humanitarian” convoy was full of dynamite. That’s most likely not true at all, since it would be incredibly stupid to send a truck full of dynamite through burning barricades, but who knows – I’m done expecting even flickers of intelligence from humans, so I can’t rule it out. The rumors then were that the indigenous protesters took possession of the dynamite.
If you’re a soldier and you think you know that the protesters are in possession of dynamite, doesn't make it more likely for you to shoot and ask questions later? Survival instinct, to be polemic.
Right on Tuesday 14th, the police made big news of arresting two individuals in the possession of small firearms, handguns, with ammunition. They were released only 10 days later, as there wasn’t enough evidence against them, despite all the media taking up that story, publishing the image everywhere – right before the military rolled into Otavalo. The investigation officially continues, but maybe the whole idea wasn’t the conviction? (Note: It’s quite common that offenders are let go quickly in Ecuador, unfortunately, even when caught in the act.)
If you’re a soldier and you think you know that the protesters are in possession of firearms, isn’t more likely for you to fire your weapon first?
It’s not a conscious decision. It’s hard to find information these days in the neutral sense, and it’s even harder to find people that are somewhat capable of interpreting said information, or even considering it in a rational process. Most reactions that humans are trained to have these days are solely emotional.
Even if looked at from a rational standpoint, both the information we have as well as that we don’t have influence our acts. Withholding information can be as powerful as passing it on, as it twists the picture towards one side. We have to judge, constantly, in any given moment, and I’d go on a limp and say that most of that process is unconscious. We are biased by the information we have, or that we think we have.
Values, inherent bias (training/experience), information bias – those are the factors that I think are most important in how we judge situations, how we select what is a reasonable response and what is excessive – in the aftermath. In the act, in the moment, we rarely select. We react. Emotional status comes into play. The better one is trained, the more control we have over ourselves, the closer to “adequate” we can get even in a situation that requires more instinct than rational acting.
All those factors are mention are in a worrisome state. Values are getting lost in individualism. Experience is cut short by lack of exposure to the other, the negative. And information - we all know how that is going. The manipulation on the one side, the incapacity to question, contemplate, think on the other side.
It's hard to judge, given that. Then again - each human is responsible for their acts. Or are they? What if they never learned to be responsible? If they don't even have the tools to learn it? If they can't even want to be better?
What are your thoughts about this topic? Please feel free to engage in any original way, including dropping links to your posts on similar topics. I'm happy to read (and curate) any quality content that is not created by LLM/AI, as well as read your own experience and point of view, I love to learn!
