After I read the first question of this weekend's topics, the final episode of Attack on Titan (specifically, the scene showed beside the credits) came to mind. That part of Attack on Titan allowed me the opportunity to think about humam behaviour and the never-ending cycle of hatred, vengeance and destruction. Even though it was just a fiction, its message was quite authentic. So I'm answering the question based on that perspective, from what I believed really happened both in the anime, in us, and in real life.
I think humans go to war, hurt one another and deceive each other because we never truly learn. We evolve in knowledge, but not so much in heart. Just like in Attack on Titan, every side believed they were right. Everyone was fighting either for power, freedom, safety or justice. No one ever saw themselves as the villain yet so many died anyway. That's what human beings do: justify the pain we cause as "necessary". At the root of it, it's desire. Desire for control, for power, for survival or for being right.
We say we want peace, but deep down, we crave control. We build weapons in the name of defense, but secretly, its to have power. And once it exists, a reason to be used is always found.
Another reason is fear. In my opinion, it's not that people are born cruel. It's that they fear. With that fear comes not only the desire to be the conqueror and not the conquered, but also not to lose everything they already have and to remain unforgotten. In Attack on Titan, fear kept the characters in a perpetual cyle of destruction and annihiliation. Because given the choice of destroy or be destroyed, many would choose to destroy. And the more I think about it, the more I understand that war often steems from thoughts of superiority, desire for validation and unwillingness to look for new, better solutions. One person's pain becomes a generations anger, passed down continously until no one remembers how it began. Similar to the anime, people inherit hatred the same way they inherit their surnames.
Our attachment to sense of righteousness is also another reason. Everyone wants peace, but on their own terms. They would always much rather be the one who wins, the victor, than be the one who bends. Because of that, many ways of harming each other has been developed and new ways of doing so, while claiming to be acting for a greater cause.
I believe as humans we have not developed as much emotional intelligence to face our issues ourselves. Rather than accepting accountability for our actions, we consistently accuse each other of being responsible for those same actions, pointing fingers at one another. "What if the issue lies withe me?" Is a question we do not bother sitting with and asking.
I remember how much Eren believed he was liberating his people by bringing war and destruction to an end through the death of thousands, but in doing so, he became the very thing he wanted to end. And even after what he did and his death, people evolved and continued killing each other, war continued.
People continue to divide themselves into groups based on beliefs, where we're from and what we want to protect. And sometimes, war and conflict becomes the language through which they express their fear of losing those things. If we truly ever evolve beyond war and deceit, it might not be because we become more intelligent, but because we become more emotionally mature, enough to use understanding over domination.
Thanks for reading...
Image is mine
