How many of us can claim to have never felt anger? Aggression even? Maybe bordering on malice? Zilch. That’s how many. As a species, violence is hardwired in each and every one of our synapses; we relied on it in our earliest years for survival, to adapt to hostile surroundings, to mark territory, to claim possession, and now, eventually, to just enjoy.
It should come as a surprise to no one that there is in fact an evolutionary reasoning behind our aggressive propensities, but in light of recent events, one begs to question: Are those very propensities experiencing an evolution of their own? Yes, I’m quite aware that we have a history soaked in blood, the very fact that “drawing and quartering” was a thing for a while testifies to that, but we have undergone a significant magnitude of “civilising” between the 14th century and 2014, surely that must count for something?
I guess the seven murders that were committed in Narayanganj is as good an example as any. Let’s set aside all the political bullspit for a moment and concentrate on the murders themselves. According to the autopsy reports, the bodies “were strangled to death and hit behind their heads.” Furthermore, “there were burn marks on their bodies.” And last but not least, “they were killed and then their abdomens were gored.” Sakes alive!
Survival has always been the most fundamental of reasons behind a human being killing a fellow member of its own kind, and as we evolved and thrived, survival gave way to greed. Survival and greed: Curiously fitting words in the context of our country’s equally curious economic divide. Gah! I’m rambling. Better get back on track.
Yes, there are countless motives that can be guessed/established behind the killings, but there’s another (more worrying) question left lingering that almost no one seems to be asking: Is it possible that the perpetrators took pleasure in the act?
Forget about the conventional definition of “reward” for a moment, money is finite, while power is just an illusion trip; the violent recoil of a gun, warm vibrations sent through the bones from a dull thwack to the back of an individual’s skull, the driving feel of a sharpened blade cutting through skin, flesh, and miscellaneous tissue, these remain.
I’m not equipped with the statistics and charts required to make a call on whether we’re growing increasingly violent the further we grow civilised as a species, but there can hardly be any doubt that the ways through which we vent our aggressive tendencies (subject to each individual, of course) are adapting and evolving to fit within the framework of our societies.