Thoughts on violence:

This post was originally an attempt to quantify and record my thoughts on the nature of interpersonal human violence.  I have tried to do this numerous times over the years and it hasn't happened yet, or at least not to my satisfaction.  One of the reasons for this is that my ADHD hasn't allowed me to effectively organize my thoughts well enough to present them to the public in a way that I would consider "credible".  Another reason that I am hesitant to approach the subject is that every time I read anything by Marc MacYoung and/or Rory Miller--two people I consider very credible (see links to the right)--I realize just how little I really know.

It occurred to me though that violence--or even disease, natural disasters, etc.--may be a function of the "natural order" of things.  Although these can cause suffering, they may be required for the overall healthy functioning of Earths biosphere.  In short, I suppose, population control.  This idea has trickled through the back of my mind in the past but I recently stumbled upon an article on the Scientific America website entitled "Why we live in dangerous places" that kind of allowed it to coalesce.

This article has me wondering if creating lasting peace, finding cures for diseases and developing ways to protect ourselves from natural disasters is really something we want to be doing for the long term survival of our species and the overall health of the planet.  I'm not suggesting that this is true but rather just sort of thinking out loud.