The Perception Of Enemies

Our Warrior Instinct inspires us to constantly
be on the lookout for enemies.

For millions of years we wandered in small groups.
We trusted the ones who acted predominantly
out of Warrior Instinct to keep us safe.
We gave them leadership positions.

They terrified us with stories of enemies
lurking just over the next hill
who want to kill us and steal everything we have.

The enemies over the next hill
were people from another group,
led by those who act predominantly out of Warrior Instinct,
who were saying the same thing to the rest of their group.

We continue to do this.

We are cavemen with cellphones.

-Even though we are civilized,
- Even though we have stopped wandering,
and built permanent dwellings,
- In spite of the amazing advancements we have made in providing for ourselves
and protecting our children from the dangers of the world,
there is still a percentage of human beings
who continue to terrify the rest of their group
with fears of enemies lurking just over the next hill.

- Even though we have negotiated trade agreements
and built nations that work in harmony with each other
there is still a percentage of us who believe -
THERE ARE ALWAYS ENEMIES OUT THERE!

The more peaceful we become as a species,
the more frightened the ones who act out of Warrior Instinct become.

They are sure there are enemies out there.
Everywhere.
Just waiting to pounce.

And, when no one pounces, they act preemptively.

Which is our new foreign policy.

Now, the ones who act predominantly out of Warrior Instinct
are going over the hills looking for anyone who could
POTENTIALLY turn into an enemy,
and try to kill them first.

Defense has become offense.

The leaders of nations who act predominantly out of Warrior Instinct.
have terrified their people with fear of terrorists and threats of attacks.
And so they rationalize sending out warriors
to kill these enemies before they get to our country.

This has enraged the people in those countries we have entered,
and turned them into enemies.
It inspires them to strike back at us.
And when they do,
it reaffirms the belief that they were actually enemies after all.

Self fulfilling prophecy.

Basically, our Warrior Instinct is CREATING enemies
to fulfill its core belief
that there always ARE enemies.

But, the ones who are doing this,
have no awareness of their own behavior.
Nor, can they see the consequences of it.
We cannot accept that we have caused these people to hate us
and to attack us.

The more civilized we become,
the safer our countries get,
the less our Warrior Instinct has to focus on.

But, instincts don't stop.
They don't fade away.

They are survival mechanisms.
They are cumulative and progressive.

The safer we become,
the more panicked our Warrior Instinct makes us feel
about potential enemies.
And so it creates them at an increasing rate.

The ones we have put in charge of our security,
are the ones who pose the biggest threat to our security.

That is because they perceive enemies where there are none.

This is how it has been for millions of years.

Our Warrior Instinct blocks us from being able to see our own behavior.
Even in the face of clear evidence that we may be wrong,
we will try to blame others.

We cannot be wrong.
We are always right.

We cannot be introspective.

And why is that?

Our Warrior Instinct serves the human hive
with a very important purpose.

We have no natural predators:
viruses, and a few large animals.
But, certainly not enough to keep up with the
rate at which we reproduce.

Our Warrior Instinct guarantees that a certain percentage
of human beings will act out of fear and anger
and create reasons to justify killing
other human beings at a regular pace.

This is done through warfare and random acts of violence.

It is not survival of the fittest.
It is survival of the random.

One way our Warrior Instinct operates is to target demographic groups.
If one Muslim shows hatred towards a Warrior,
then all Muslims will be perceived of as enemies.

“If one, then all”, is a primary core belief of our Warrior Instinct.

If we try to kill all Muslims,
then we will kill old people, young people, healthy people, sick people,
wealthy people, poor people, etc.
We will kill a random sample of Muslims.

The Romans did this with Christians.
The Nazis did this with Jews.
The next wave is shaping up to be Muslims.

Scaring people to death with fear of enemies,
helps to thin the species by generating reasons to kill people.

We don't go through the hospitals and kill off the sickest 30%.
We don't kill everyone over 80 years old.

This is not survival of the fittest,
it is survival of the random.

So, how is this accomplished?

How do we have a constant supply of humans beings who
will act primarily out of Warrior Instinct on a regular basis
in order to thin our species?

Here is one possibility...

The "Amygdala" is a pair of small almond-shaped structures situated between
the cerebral cortex and the limbic/emotional center of the brain.

When this neural circuit for processing emotional information is damaged,
the prefrontal cortex cannot interpret feedback from the limbic system.

Uninhibited signals from the Amygdala lead to free expression of emotions,
and may manifest in violent and aggressive behavior.

The Amygdala is responsible for emotional reactions
that have to do with survival.

Including our ability to learn what is fearful to us.

The Amygdala has a substantial role in mental states,
and is related to many psychological disorders.

In a 2003 study, subjects with Borderline personality disorder
showed significantly greater left Amygdala activity
than normal control subjects.

Some borderline patients even had difficulties
classifying neutral faces or saw them as threatening.1

The size of a human Amygdala
is positively correlated to the level of aggression.

Are a certain percentage of humans consistently born with abnormal Amygdalae?

Is this how our species insures that there will always be humans
who will find reasons to kill other humans
out of their fears?

Does our Amygdala create Warrior Instinct?

The effects of this instinct can be devastating on the warriors themselves.

Read about it from the Warrior's perspective here.
(http://amygdalagf.blogspot.com/2009/07/what-our-wars-do-to-our-soldiers.html)

1. - Donegan et al.; Sanislow, CA; Blumberg, HP; Fulbright, RK; Lacadie, C; Skudlarski, P; Gore, JC; Olson, IR et al. (2003). "Amygdala hyperreactivity in borderline personality disorder: implications for emotional dysregulation.". Biological Psychiatry 54 (11): 1284–1293.