Brutal

Violence is in our genes; humans are animals. Just look at history: the Crusades and witch hunts in the Middle Ages. Concentration camps, genocide, nuclear weapons in the 20th century. The new millennium is starting off only slightly better worldwide – different ways of thinking and praying are once again being viewed with suspicion, polarization and radicalization are taking hold in large parts of Western societies, and inhibitions are declining. "Us against them" is back, and we haven't even mentioned "everyday" domestic violence yet. It seems that civilizing humanistic culture is just a film of oil on the ocean that breaks as soon as the sea gets rough.

That's one way of looking at it, but evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker sees it differently. In two thick books, he argues that relative to the number of people, the number of deaths from violence is steadily declining. We can only hope that he is right. After all, his argument that news and entertainment naturally use a perception filter that recognizes a lot of war and little peace is compelling.

We are investigating where "everyday" violence comes from, what its roots are, what promotes or inhibits it, in cooperation with the International Graduate College 2150 "Neural Basis of Aggression and Impulsivity Modulation in Psychopathology." This involves testosterone and gender, therapy and, of course, research.

Christian Wolf provides an initial overview in his article:The deep roots of violence.