Question

Cultural Anthropology Here is a question: Is aggression something we are born with (embedded in our DNA) or something we learn along the way? Another way of putting this is: Is aggression biological or is it cultural? This is the Nature/Nurture question, and as of right now, as far as we are concerned, has no correct answer. I am just extremely interested in what YOU think about this, considering there is so much aggression in the world, and in our lives.

Answer 1

Aggression has helped human beings in their evolution. It has helped them to fight the extreme odd conditions of life and survive in those conditions, but this does not mean that human beings are programmed innately for aggression. Aggression is the last resort that's if the conditions only allows this as the only choice humans go for it. Humans have potentialities for aggression not the tendency for it. It is more a learned behavior than an embedded trait. Humans learn to be aggressive by watching others, they learn it while interaction with their environment, they because they feel it is important for their survival. If we think that aggression is not necessary in our day to day activities and begin rewire our learning of learned aggressive behavior we can do those activities even without being aggressive. Thus, the perception that we have for aggression decides the importance we give to it, that is if we consider it is important to be violent and aggressive then we will act similarly and vice-versa.