I was told I had to write something spooky since it is Halloween, but I am not the biggest fan of horror or thrillers, which I think makes me a poor candidate to write the Book of the Week. Regardless, we persist! While not scary, I think this is a concept that applies to a lot of horror-related media, and that is the concept of human destructiveness. Why do humans hurt other people? Erich Fromm actually wrote a whole book about this called The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, essentially giving a logical explanation as to where aggression and destructive behaviors in humans come from. I haven’t finished reading this book yet, but I thought it’d be interesting to write about. Maybe it’d intrigue whoever reads this to become more curious about this trait in humans.
The author starts by defining aggression and how it can be both benign and malignant, where benign aggression could be a person acting in self defense, and malignant or malicious aggression is when a person meditates on harming someone else, or acts aggressively for the sake of it. The author states it as almost hurting out of the pleasure of hurting or from seeing someone else hurt. Fromm’s main argument from these definitions is that while benign aggression can be derived from animalistic instincts, the latter type of aggression, the malignant one, is a learned or conditioned behavior — that it isn’t natural to humans or any animal, for that matter, but is created within people based on circumstances.
Erich Fromm’s main circumstance is one he calls the “unclaimed life.” Fromm makes the argument that humans possess a natural urge towards creation, growth, and connection, but when this is disturbed or when social structures, alienation, or other external factors block this natural behavior, the energy does not simply vanish but gets compensated by destructive behaviors instead. Destruction becomes a substitute for creation, as when a person cannot actively shape or experience a meaningful life, destroying that for others or for themselves offers a new passion or pursuit to work towards. This destructiveness can then be a way to escape from the feeling of powerlessness or lack of autonomy.
So many of the scariest things to us are the types of aggression or harm that are done premeditatedly. The scariest villain is not one that does something by accident, but one that hurts others deliberately and continues to hurt because they enjoy it. But it is also noted in most media that this is a symptom of something happening in their lives—that their passions have been perverted towards harm—and while I don’t think that means one HAS to empathize with a villain or someone who hurts others, I think it is important to reflect on as we think of our place in the world. By not recognizing the ways we may have been hurt or the ways we hurt ourselves, we have the potential to inflict that harm onto others and cause them to act in destructive ways toward themselves and others as well. We, as a society, by Fromm’s theory, all play a role in the villains that make the big screens or the ones that inspire the villains we see in the media.
Let us take this book for what it is: An in-depth and analytical look into destructive behaviors, as well as a reminder to treat others with respect and kindness. By doing so, we can inspire others to do the same by being the societal factors pulling them in that direction. We never know what someone is going through, so by being a person that treats others with love and compassion, you may be showing someone hope without knowing it. That is the final point Fromm makes in his book (since I skipped to the epilogue): There seems to be ample evidence that people can be shown hope, and when that hope is internalized, it can deter them from destructive behaviors.
I hope to finish this book soon, but I plan on continuing to read and reflect on it. If this area of psychology interests you at all, I think this book is a really easy starting point, and it references many other psychologists and philosophers, as well as other topics to research. I hope this has also inspired you to reflect on yourself and your own lines of thinking — to ask yourself when you start thinking destructively about yourself and others, and where this train of thought is coming from. There is so much more that could be said about this topic, but I don’t have the space for all that. Happy Halloween, everyone!
