{"id":20728,"date":"2020-12-13T20:46:58","date_gmt":"2020-12-14T00:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=20728"},"modified":"2020-12-19T17:42:46","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T21:42:46","slug":"natural-aggression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/natural-aggression\/","title":{"rendered":"Natural Aggression: It’s Normal, But Also Harmful"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is natural aggression? Do all humans have natural aggression and how can you tell? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All people have some form of natural aggression, but we don’t like to admit to having this emotion. But once we recognize our natural aggression, we can learn how to counter it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about natural aggression and where it comes from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Natural Aggression<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Why are people aggressive? Like envy, aggression is an emotion no one wants to admit to having. <\/strong>For example, we all acknowledge that there are aggressive people out there, such as criminals, but we draw a hard line between us and them. We prefer to sketch peacefulness and cooperation into our self-images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reality, aggression is a natural part of human nature and everyone has it<\/strong>. Interestingly, it isn\u2019t driven by any violence inherent in our species. In fact, aggression stems from a desire for control, which is driven by a fear of helplessness. Our helplessness comes from many sources: We need other people for validation and love but they\u2019re unpredictable, we have childhood insecurities, and death comes, sometimes unexpectedly, for us all. This can help answer the question “why are people aggressive?” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can see this latent aggression in our dealings with others\u2014unconsciously, we compare our aggression levels to everyone else\u2019s.<\/strong> When we meet someone who\u2019s more aggressive, we tend to act meek and obedient. But when we encounter someone less aggressive, we tend to feel superior. We might help them, or we might use them. Usually, we rationalize our aggression\u2014for example, someone else started the fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two myths associated with aggression:<\/p>\n\n\n\n