We Got Domesticated
I was reading over at Competitive Shooter about how a bear (yes, the wild critter kind) that attacks is considered "bad" by some. Bob McNulty (the author) makes the point that it's not a bad bear, it's just a bear. That reasoning led me to remember something that Suarez International instructor Steve Collins said this past winter in a defensive knife class - in order to win, the defender really must be able to go from calm to berserk in one moment and attack with everything possible. This concept was something new to some of the students there, as it probably would be. We humans are expected to act in a domesticated manner so we can interact predictably (borrowing another concept from Bob) within our self-created society. Unpredictable people are labeled criminal or dangerous or crazy since they don't follow the rules of domestication. Even a family pet that bites is immediately despised, even though the dog was just being a dog. Dogs bite, they don't have some imposed "code of conduct" fostered on them.
A threat in the form of another person will expect the victim to react within the societal guidelines of what's proper or what's prescribed e.g. the victim will attempt to reason or get along or seek help. The threat then turns the victim into a victimized domesticated person, and the person is generally shocked that he or she was confronted with such bad violence. It perhaps comes down to good people and bad people. In order to be good, one can't exhibit traits of the bad for fear of ostracism from society. This might be why victims just seem to stand out as victims, while it's pretty rare for a bad guy to just outright attack somebody who is already bad, evil or truly dangerous. If the victims were less domesticated, they might not stand out so much as potential victims.
Wild creatures will attack without warning, without fear, without any human traits as they are not humans, they don't follow guidelines, they follow instincts for survival. Small animals do run off much larger animals because of instant tenacity and drive - the total "no quarter" attack (or defense) that obliterates the threat. Steve also said that to remain in society, when the defense is finished and the threat is destroyed, the defender must be able to go back to hugging babies and petting puppies. If one exhibits complete wildness, that unpredictability that humans can't grasp, then one won't be welcome in society at all. Somewhere there is a balance. I think the balance needs to be quite a bit more toward the wild than the domesticated.
A threat in the form of another person will expect the victim to react within the societal guidelines of what's proper or what's prescribed e.g. the victim will attempt to reason or get along or seek help. The threat then turns the victim into a victimized domesticated person, and the person is generally shocked that he or she was confronted with such bad violence. It perhaps comes down to good people and bad people. In order to be good, one can't exhibit traits of the bad for fear of ostracism from society. This might be why victims just seem to stand out as victims, while it's pretty rare for a bad guy to just outright attack somebody who is already bad, evil or truly dangerous. If the victims were less domesticated, they might not stand out so much as potential victims.
Wild creatures will attack without warning, without fear, without any human traits as they are not humans, they don't follow guidelines, they follow instincts for survival. Small animals do run off much larger animals because of instant tenacity and drive - the total "no quarter" attack (or defense) that obliterates the threat. Steve also said that to remain in society, when the defense is finished and the threat is destroyed, the defender must be able to go back to hugging babies and petting puppies. If one exhibits complete wildness, that unpredictability that humans can't grasp, then one won't be welcome in society at all. Somewhere there is a balance. I think the balance needs to be quite a bit more toward the wild than the domesticated.
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