Violence

At what point in a revolutionary moment do you put down the drums and take up the guns? It used to be that I was a stubborn advocate of total pacifism and non-violence. Over the past few years, however, I have shifted—very slowly—from that position. The sounds of gunfire and the sight of unarmed protesters scurrying for their lives in Tahrir Square in Cairo last night have once again given me pause.

The amphitheater and stage at Baruch College glowed blood red. Space age, frenetic pop music percolated in the background. The tone was set for World Science Festival’s panel on “Brutality and the Brain.” A sold-out, attentive audience came to learn about humans and our propensity toward violence. Is violence hard-wired in our brains? What is the psychology behind violence? Why are we drawn to violence in entertainment? These and other questions were addressed by a very brainy panel. Here are some highlights.

Professor R. Brian Ferguson teaches anthropology at Rutgers University in Newark and is an anthropological generalist on the subjects of war with publications on tribal warfare, ethnic conflict, the archeology of violence, and war in ancient states. He is a critic of theories purporting to explain war as a result of evolved propensities to kill.