Romantics like to entertain the thought that animals are much less violent than humans beings. The particulars of the narrative suggest that they are governed by their instinctual "animal" nature. They are simple minded and thus they cannot help themselves. Regardless, this belief is just that; a belief. Humans are no more or less violent.
Much like every other species, we are different in the way we inflict violence. Whether we like or not, nature ensures psychopathy as a universal trait for survival. An evil scientific mastermind, a business savvy, a bloodthirsty warrior. Power is sexy for it ensures survival. Propagation of the species. It is accepted in weird packages and its indifferent to ethical constructs.
A case in point, cats. Our feline friends have taken over the heart of the human civilization but they are notorious psychopaths if we judge them by our human standards. They torture pretty much anything with a heart beat and then eat it. They approach us only when they are in need of something and they manipulate their caretakers to get what they want. They kill most young males to ensure their genetic dominion and they are indifferent of their clan's survival. Every single cat owner realizes this truth sooner or later and yet we grow attached to them much like we do with our own offspring.
When it come to survival, we are all pawns in nature's chessboard. Such is the case with the proportion of eyes in respect to someone's head. The appearance kickstarts a mechanism in almost all species to care for the young, regardless of their species or actions. It is almost as if we are enchanted by a magical spell. Cats hold the same magical ratio of eyes vs head as our human offspring. More so, they are also equipped with a high pitched sound vocabulary that often resembles the one of a young human baby. Combine this with the ability to keep our food supply depots free of rodents and you have enough reasons to helplessly fall in love with an adorable murderous asshole.
Otters, the lovely little sea creatures that hold hands while they float on water rape baby seals to death. When they get hungry they hold little otter pups hostage until the mother pays a ransom of food to the male. Our dearest Bottlenose dolphins gang-up and beat porpoises. It is important to point here that Dolphins and porpoises do not have a survival beef with each other. They do not compete for food or territory, and porpoises do not pose a threat to dolphins. It is rather evident that dolphins, much like cats torture and kill for fun. Adelie Penguins have their own kind of twist. Apparently young unpaired males and females indulge in acts of necrophilia, sexual coercion and physical abuse of chicks. Margays hunt by mimicking baby monkeys in distress. Male chimps, our dearest cousins, don't just kill babies. In their effort to drive a female into estrus, they will dismember and eat it right in front of her.
We find ourselves complaining how humans are more violent and more horrible that other animals but in close examination this belief does not hold. In fact, we often fall for the cute eyes and the superficial appearance rather than examine what is going underneath the surface of it all. Much like a loving mother or a fool falling in love, we get played by nature to serve a specific purpose. In the same respect we fall for the person with the linguistic savoir-vivre, the tall posture, the fine suit. We are tools of our own devices, no different than what we observe in other species.
Psychopathy is defined as "an abnormal or violent social behavior". What is normal though other than the superficial facade we all witness? A human can torture and kill thousands by a click of a mouse in the stock exchange market. He can also do it more straightforward by pulling a gun trigger or playing with a drone. A hunter, much like your cat, hunts for fun. They kill for enjoyment. Hunting offers training in acquiring food — nothing wrong with that by nature's standards, hence the rush of neurotransmitter rewards.
We are afflicted with the sum of our survival mechanisms. We are drown in paradoxes that we are supposed to make sense in our own special way. We debate ethics when pretty much we cook them up as we like — depending on the situation we are found. A mother will defend her mass murderer son because it is her offspring — always will be. Billions do much the same for their dear psychopathic murderous cat. Our hearts are naive and gullible, subject to all kinds of suggestion. We trust them to offer meaning in our lives but we understand very little of them.
