So What?

 

Before I get too deep into documenting the changing face of violence in society, it's reasonable to ask why it matters.  As far as I'm concerned, 'because it's interesting' is a perfectly valid answer. I'm a supporter of pure research in all its various forms. However this particular line of inquiry could have more immediate impact. Specifically, it could lead to a change in our approach to various aspects    of social policy and even to metaphysics.

The most obvious effect would be on our approach to censoring violence in the media. On one hand, censors could argue that if less violence is the way of the future, then we should work to usher it in sooner. I would lean in the opposite direction though. I would say that to the extent violence in movies and video games is a problem, it's fixing itself and so we should leave it to take its course. Moreover, history seems to demonstrate a common human drive to witness violence and we should simply be glad that these days it's sublimated into fantasy worlds and no longer involves actual violence toward living beings. Either way, this investigation would certainly inform the debate.

The next obvious question is whether this effect is reflecting a change solely in Western culture or a deeper change in human nature itself. That could easily be addressed by cross-cultural historical comparisons. Unfortunately, my personal knowledge only extends to Western history. If, as I personally suspect, this effect extends across cultural boundaries, then we start discussing changes in human nature.

The trends that I have been documenting are changes in the amount of violence desirable or acceptable to the average citizen in a given time period. It is beyond question that there are always people who are far from average. In this case, on one side we get saints and on the other, psychopaths. If we can understand how and why society is changing, then perhaps we can apply that knowledge to help bring the psychopaths closer to the societal average. (I’m not particularly interested in finding a way to give saints a taste for blood.) Imagine how different our world would be if prisons became truly a place for reform rather than punishment or deterrence!