Phun-size Philosophy # 60 – Violence

Violence is basically a turbulent state that has the possibility of resulting in injuries and destruction. There are plenty of aggressive behaviors that are associated with anger. I did a previous note on anger and rage and this post will relate a lot with that because the two concepts are basically intertwined. I believe that violence can basically be operationalized to describe the behavior as the intention to injure or damage property. One of the big questions in today’s society is about asking whether or not violence is engrained in society. The media plays a huge role in this I believe because they portray these violent acts. I also believe that violent behaviors we see in the news every day are directly related to the amount of crime. One of the many theories of why there have been crime increases is that technology plays a role in inspiring citizens to commit violent crimes especially in children with videogames and television. One instance where this concept is prevalent is in children’s television programs. In cartoons like SpongeBob and Phineas & Ferb, there is a lot of violence that we don’t necessarily recognize as being a bad thing but find it comical because of the situation it is currently in. One specific thing I notice is when characters like SpongeBob, Patrick, or Squidward get hurt and in the next scene they seem completely fine. The one who is inflicting the pain also impacts its connotation like if SpongeBob commits a violent act it will be on accident but if Squidward does something violent, it is probably on purpose with the intention to injure SpongeBob. The humor used in these cartoon shows is used to take the significance of the pain off a focus point to the children and make it appear funny to the audience. While it may make the show entertaining, the only problem with this is that children may cause pain to their friends and family thinking it’s funny but they will have to learn the hard way it isn’t. The reasoning for using violence is dependent upon the current predicament and can be used in some conditions that have a justification for acting violent. If you are getting provoked to be violent, you still aren’t justified in your use for violence because you should be able to control your actions with self control. If you actively go out of your way to incite ruckuses and fights, then you are potentially a danger to society and should be punished. I believe that violence is never the answer unless it is used for self defense but that is a sticky subject because it is hard to sometimes determine if something was done out of self defense from an external perspective. Everyone has their own mentality on how to deal with violence as well like the eye for an eye approach. The sensitivity you have for others and your connections to others at an emotional level will determine how you will act to them especially with things like empathy and apathy. Deep down we all relate to each other through what we feel but it varies from person to person like some may care about others pain and others may want to inflict pain upon you. In early times of human history there was an internal sense of justice carried out by the individual but now there is a code of conduct that we all must abide by through the laws that the government enforces through police. I personally believe that unfortunately there will always be violence. In my opinion, I don’t believe that world peace is completely achievable but if future generations are being taught alternatives to violence we may be able to evolve past our basic instincts. Check out more at http://humanpoweredpodcasts.squarespace.com/!

-Allan Nicholas