This topic always brought about interesting conversation at other places so I'm curious to see how you all feel about it.
Heres some of the questions;
1. When is violence necessary?
2. Violence as entertainment; good? bad? or something else?
3. Are humans inherently violent or is it a product of culture?
4. What are your views on violence as a sport or as a philosophy (martial arts etc).
My views,
1. When all other choices have been used (verbal, persusasion, diplomacy) sometimes you have to attack someone physically to achieve a goal or to protect yourself.
2. Its a guilty pleasure. No i don't think we should be glamorizing murder, fighting, violence etc but it is pretty entertaining to watch a good action movie, a good fight on the UFC etc.
3. I think we all have the inherent qualities of violence within us, but culture does take a big role in what we do with these inherent qualities. Yeah I've gotten in fights like almost every person but do I actively seek out people to off them for insults? no. A vendetta culture would though.
4. Fighting as a sport is the best possible way to handle our natural violent urges in a safe and socially acceptable way. I love doing my SCA fighting, grappling, wrestling, fencing, boxing etc. Its like body chess. As far as philosophy's, a good warrior culture/philosophy can help a lot of people to become better then who they were. Not to mention the discipline/dedication and camaraderie fighters share. However if the fighting culture you go into is based upon egoism and base desires (I fight to get money and hot bitches!) then your still a base person..except now you know how to hurt people more effectively. I hate seeing fighting being used as a crutch to prop up a childlike ego or as a tool for someone to lash out at people and treat them in the same horrible way the person themselves was treated.
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