杏吧原创s have worked out the evolutionary basis for many behaviours such as altruism and jealousy. However, over the millennia, people have been unbelievably and gratuitously cruel to each other. The evolutionary advantage of this is not obvious. So what is the biological basis of human cruelty? (Continued)
One of your previous correspondents seeks to exclude women from the discussion of the survival of unbelievable and gratuitous cruelty as a human trait. They have not been so dominant in the history of large and dramatic behaviours, perhaps because they have seldom been in a position to initiate them. When they are in such a situation we see such exceptions as the 16th-century Hungarian serial killer Elizabeth B谩thory, and ancient Roman females of the family that produced her role models, Caligula and Nero.
Today, in the everyday world, wannabe alpha females can create just as much nastiness as males, if not more. As a primary schoolteacher I have to deal with bullying. In 40 years, boy bullies, as opposed to boys who sometimes bully, have been rare. Female bullying is much more common, much more difficult to deal with, and delivers much more long-lasting, though less visible damage. 鈥淵ou can be my friend if you promise never to speak to her ever again,鈥� is the style of approach girls use.
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I did ask the hangers-on once why they wanted to be the friend of someone who had demanded they dump another friend. They had no answer, even expressing disbelief that I should ask, despite being upset by the situation. Girls bullied by other girls are excluded, made to feel of no value, and have been driven to suicide. Females cannot be excused complicity in the production of cruelty.
I don鈥檛 know why the trait of cruelty survives, but I do know why the trait of compliance survives. Survival depends on not being cast out from the central group. And while that trait persists, so do the queen bees.
Penelope Stanford, Greenhithe, Kent, UK