There are times when it's definitely an adaptive strategy when homicide will work. Violence is also a way that men wind up having sex. If a culture values being aggressive and frightening off any other predators or prey around, then what do we think is going to happen in two or three generations? We're going to have people using that strategy even over long term.
Shermer and Thornton discuss: aggression: passive, proactive, reactive, relational • moralistic punishment and the game theory analysis of the logic of violence • gun violence (homicide, suicide, accidents) • violence against women/children • male-on-male violence • alcohol, drugs, infidelity • race • self-control • training soldiers • male role models • Rodney King, Michael Brown, George Floyd • police violence • bullying • fatherless homes • rape and sexual violence • self-defense.
Matt Thornton has been teaching functional martial arts for more than thirty years and holds a 5th degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. His organization, Straight Blast Gym, has more than seventy locations worldwide and has produced champion MMA fighters as well as world-class self-defense and law enforcement instructors. He lives with his wife Salome and their five children in Portland, Oregon. His new book is The Gift of Violence: Practical Knowledge for Surviving and Thriving in a Dangerous World.