People like to think that intelligence makes them better than others. We wage wars, create ideologies and laws to justify our actions. We call it strategy, morality, or defense. But if you take those things away, what remains is pure animal instinct — territoriality, domination, survival. Intelligence? It’s just a mask that makes violence seem justified.
War: animal instinct
Look at any war — past or present. Nations plan and rationalize. Soldiers fight, leaders give orders, and society applauds. Actions are justified by ideology, patriotism, or a “higher purpose.” But underneath it all lies a natural instinct:
- Territoriality: countries and leaders protect or expand their territory — it is a predator that defends or conquers.
- Dominance: armies fight to assert power. The strongest “pack” wins.
- Survival: violence is presented as a necessity for survival or defense, but instinct speaks louder.
People use their intellect to justify murder. Wolves kill to eat. People kill to defend their honor, ideology, or profit — and convince themselves that it is morally right. Every law, strategy, or “rational war” is a story we tell ourselves to mask our primal instincts.
Justification mask
Whenever a person kills or plans violence, explanations are used:
- “I defend my country.”
- “I destroy threats.”
- “I uphold justice.”
Intelligence does not elevate humans above animals — intelligence rationalizes instincts. Deep in the subconscious, animals still strive for dominance, security, and survival. The mind invents a story, but the impulse remains uncontrolled: to conquer territory, avert threats, assert control.
Even in the smallest conflict situations — gang fights, arguments, revenge — the same pattern repeats itself. The story changes, but the instinct remains the same. Intellect allows people to “justify” primal instinct actions, while believing that they are rational.
People: clever animals
No amount of reasoning or ideology will separate humans from animals. We plan wars, make laws, and discuss morality, but our basic inner drive remains the same: domination, protection, survival. Intellect is like an advertising department in our minds — it presents instinct-driven actions as rationally justifiable, and we ourselves believe that everything is happening correctly.
The truth is uncomfortable:
- Every war, every “justified” murder, every act of violence is motivated by instinct.
- People wage war, kill, and dominate — under the illusion of morality.
- Intellect does not exclude primal instinct impulses. It attempts to explain them as necessary.
Firstly, humans are animals. Only secondarily are they capable of thinking beyond their animal nature. And when it comes to war, violence, or any “justified” killing, we are no different from predators — we are just more “creative” in our ability to explain why we do it.