Smell

i was reading an article about the difference between Chimpanzees and Bonobos, by Frans De Waal.

These monkeys are our closest relatives in the animal kingdom. Strikingly, their warlike and peaceful attributes are very much like ours. Chimpanzees being the warriors and Bonobos the lovers.

Since the 1700's Chimpanzees have been studied. They exhibit many characteristics humans have, which has led researcher's to claim that our violence towards others is hardwired. The theory that violence is hardwired into humanity comes up against a dilemma when the Bonobos, who are also being studied and who are also closely related to us, demonstrate a come-day-go-day nature. Peaceful and erotic they lead lives with little violence.

In studies mixing the animals together, Bonobos can teach Chimps how to wage peace, which they can then take back to their troops and demonstrate.

Some social scientists claim we are hardwired for aggression, that our DNA demands it.
Only, as luck would have it, our DNA has us hardwired for peace as well.

So here is the problem.

Aggression has dominated, it has successfully killed off those we wanted to control. It has been supported(by various empires, religions, and false beliefs) throughout mans existence by focusing on our differences. That empires have failed, that beliefs have been exposed, and that religion can't bring about peace, hasn't gone unnoticed.

What has gone unnoticed is that peace has always existed in concert with war. That peace, in fact, is more predominant than war and that peace is desired by all of humanity, while war is not.

In the past few hundred years there has been a clarion call to change. To move away from aggression and towards diplomacy.

Just as i was finishing typing the above, a plate of recently warmed Danish waltzed into my space on a plastic plate. It passed by my nose on a trip to another room, but its smell didn't catch up to me until after the plate had left the room I was in. It was such a delicious smell, lingering long after the pastry had passed.

Humanity hasn't caught up with our ability to wage peace instead of war.