From the time Cane killed Able in the Garden of Eden, aggression became a part of the human psyche.

Freud found the Biblical commandment to love one’s neighbor as oneself to be a shallow and false premise. He contended that man is naturally aggressive, and, therefore, to love one’s neighbor is a behavior that would be in direct conflict with man’s natural instinct.

Historical Hostility

Historically, human beings have been known to be “creatures among whose instinctual endowments is to be reckoned a powerful share of aggressiveness” (Freud, 1961, p. 68). So, rather than loving one’s neighbor, the human dilemma, according to Freud, is that man is hostile towards his neighbor: “to exploit his capacity for work without compensation, to use him sexually without his consent, to seize his possessions, to humiliate him, to cause him pain, to torture and to kill him” (p. 69).

Today, neuroscientists tell us that the laws of natural selection have completely discredited the idea of the noble savage.

“But it is the doctrine of the Noble Savage that has been most mercilessly debunked by the new evolutionary thinking. A thoroughly noble anything is an unlikely product of natural selection, because in the competition among genes for representation is the next generation, noble guys tend to finish last. Conflicts of interest are ubiquitous among living things, since two animals cannot both eat the same fish or monopolize the same mate. To the extent that social motives are adaptations that maximize copies of the genes that produce them, they should be designed to prevail in such conflict; one way to prevail is to neutralize the competition. As William James put it, just a bit too flamboyantly: “We, the lineal representatives of the successful enactors of one scene of slaughter after another, must, whatever more specific virtues we may also possess, still carry about with us, ready at any moment to burst into flame, the smoldering and sinister traits of character by means of which they lived through so many massacres, harming others, but themselves unharmed.”[RLB1] (Pinker, 2002, pp. 55-56)

Freud labeled man homo homini lupus. Translated, this means, “man is a wolf to man.”

Freud warned us that man has the innate capacity to destroy himself and he cited “the invasion of the Huns, or… the people known as Mongols under Jenghiz Khan and Tamerlane, or… the capture of Jerusalem by the pious Crusaders, or even, indeed, the horrors of the recent World War,” as examples of man’s violent nature (1961, p. 69).

Hence, according to Freud, human beings create cultural rules and laws to inhibit and suppress this natural instinct for aggression. Nevertheless, Freud noted that society is unable to completely contain or limit man’s natural “inclination to aggression” (p. 69).

Our Innate Aggressive Nature

Due to neurobiologist MacLean’s model of the triune brain, we now know that aggression resides in the reptilian brain – the instinctive brain which holds our innate, primitive instincts and drives (Angel, 2008, p. 33). Angel explained that, “It is the origin of the brain whose structures generate instinctual drives” (p. 34).

Science today has proven what Freud suggested, which is that aggression is innate in the human animal. It is this aggressive nature, Freud suggested, that is responsible for one’s difficulties in inter-relationships, whether on a personal or political level. It is this factor that causes a large investment of energy to be expressed in an effort to control man’s baser instincts of violence.

Thus, even mutual interests are not strong enough to restrain man’s aggression towards one another. Freud (1961) stated that “instinctual passions are stronger than reasonable interests” (p. 69). Society, as a result, has developed social restrictions and norms to deter violence.

Social Structures

Psychical reaction-formations are methods used in society to create a stable environment for coexistence, and they encourage humans to identify with one another. It is through such identification that man develops a cohesiveness that raises self-esteem, security, and psychological equanimity; these social structures define human beings. This cultural connection to one another also helps man to assuage his fear of death.

The taboos and regulations available are not only for social interaction, but also love and sexual behavior. Thus society, in an effort to develop and sustain a community of relationships, reflects an animosity towards sexuality. For example, an unbridled sexuality within the culture would disrupt the construct of monogamy – a sexual state endorsed by Western society.

Even our political rules and laws, organized to regulate aggression, use aggression to enforce the law. The death penalty, which takes the life of one who has taken the life of another, serves as an example of this.

References

Angel, J. (2008) Exploring the mind-brain connection. Bloomington, IL: Xlibris.

Freud, S. (1962, c1961). Civilization and its discontents. (J. Strachey, Trans.). (1st American ed.). New York : W.W. Norton.

Pinker, S. (2002) The blank slate: The modern denial of human nature. New York: Penguin.

Solomon, S., Greenberg, J., & Pyszczynski, T. (2000). Pride and prejudice: Fear of death and social behavior. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9, 200-204.

Author(s)

  • Dr. Gail Gross

    Author and Parenting, Relationships, and Human Behavior Expert

    Dr. Gail Gross, Ph.D., Ed.D., M.Ed., a member of the American Psychological Association (APA) and member of APA Division 39, is a nationally recognized family, child development, and human behavior expert, author, and educator. Her positive and integrative approach to difficult issues helps families navigate today’s complex problems. Dr. Gross is frequently called upon by national and regional media to offer her insight on topics involving family relationships, education, behavior, and development issues. A dependable authority, Dr. Gross has contributed to broadcast, print and online media including CNN, the Today Show, CNBC's The Doctors, Hollywood Reporter, FOX radio, FOX’s The O’Reilly Factor, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Times of India, People magazine, Parents magazine, Scholastic Parent and Child Magazine, USA Today, Univision, ABC, CBS, and KHOU's Great Day Houston Show. She is a veteran radio talk show host as well as the host of the nationally syndicated PBS program, “Let’s Talk.” Also, Dr. Gross has written a semi-weekly blog for The Huffington Post and has blogged at EmpowHER.com since 2013. Recently, Houston Women's Magazine named her One of Houston's Most Influential Women of 2016. Dr. Gross is a longtime leader in finding solutions to the nation’s toughest education challenges. She co-founded the first-of-its kind Cuney Home School with her husband Jenard, in partnership with Texas Southern University. The school serves as a national model for improving the academic performance of students from housing projects by engaging the parents. Dr. Gross also has a public school elementary and secondary campus in Texas that has been named for her. Additionally, she recently completed leading a landmark, year-long study in the Houston Independent School District to examine how stress-reduction affects academics, attendance, and bullying in elementary school students, and a second study on stress and its effects on learning. Such work has earned her accolades from distinguished leaders such as the Dalai Lama, who presented her with the first Spirit of Freedom award in 1998. More recently, she was honored in 2013 with the Jung Institute award. She also received the Good Heart Humanitarian Award from Jewish Women International, Perth Amboy High School Hall of Fame Award, the Great Texan of the Year Award, the Houston Best Dressed Hall of Fame Award, Trailblazer Award, Get Real New York City Convention's 2014 Blogging Award, and Woman of Influence Award. Dr. Gross’ book, The Only Way Out Is Through, is available on Amazon now and offers strategies for life’s transitions including coping with loss, drawing from dealing with the death of her own daughter. Her next book, How to Build Your Baby’s Brain, is also available on Amazon now and teaches parents how to enhance their child’s learning potential by understanding and recognizing their various development stages. And her first research book was published by Random House in 1987 on health and skin care titled Beautiful Skin. Dr. Gross has created 8 audio tapes on relaxation and stress reduction that can be purchased on Amazon.com. Most recently, Dr. Gross’s book, The Only Way Out is Through, was named a Next Generation Indie Book Awards Silver Medal finalist in 2020 and Winner of the 2021 Independent Press Awards in the categories of Death & Dying as well as Grief. Her latest book, How to Build Your Baby’s Brain, was the National Parenting Product Awards winner in 2019, the Nautilus Book Awards winner in 2019, ranked the No. 1 Best New Parenting Book in 2019 and listed among the Top 10 Parenting Books to Read in 2020 by BookAuthority, as well as the Next Generation Indie Book Awards Gold Medal winner in 2020 and Winner of the 2021 Independent Press Awards in the category of How-To. Dr. Gross received a BS in Education and an Ed.D. (Doctorate of Education) with a specialty in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Houston. She earned her Master’s degree in Secondary Education with a focus on Psychology from the University of St. Thomas in Houston. Dr. Gross received her second PhD in Psychology, with a concentration in Jungian studies. Dr. Gross was the recipient of Kappa Delta Pi An International Honor Society in Education. Dr. Gross was elected member of the International English Honor Society Sigma Tau Delta.