Are we evil by nature?

Good and evil have occupied our thoughts ever since the human species settled down. Indeed, as this ARTE report reminds us, hunter-gatherer groups hardly ever fought, as far as we know. The first signs of violence came with sedentarization. But is it only this state of affairs that explains human evil? Are we driven in our actions by a little angel or a little devil?

It's a very complex question. Philosophers and thinkers have long argued that we are naturally evil. The novel "Lord of the Flies" and the famous Stanford experiment in which participants played prisoners and guards seemed to prove the point.

However, a situation similar to William Golding's work occurred in 1965, when teenagers were stranded on an island and lived peacefully until they were rescued 15 months later. As for Stanford, we now know that a person in charge of the experiment had pushed the "guards" to be more aggressive in their approaches...

Nevertheless, it seems clear that we think of the world more in terms of defense and attack than benevolence. Is it the oxytocin that enables us to bond with those closest to us, but makes us more wary of others? Perhaps our societies should take a leaf out of the bonobos' book. These primates live south of the Congo River, while their cousins, the chimpanzees, reside on the north bank. The chimpanzees are renowned for being male-led, aggression-focused tribes. Female bonobos tolerate no violence in the groups they lead, placing benevolence between each member at the heart of daily activities.

Perhaps man's benevolent nature would be enhanced by such a societal approach, promoting the well-being of all and not just a few...

Running time: 24min15

Image: Enrique Meseguer / Pixabay