Trying to understand the beautiful nature of the bonobo in a follow up piece on 60 Minutes last night Anderson Cooper asked, "So they have no dark side?"
That pretty much says it all, doesn't it? We learn in biology class that man has this so called dark side. We accept it. Most of us aspire not to be the one who pulls the handgun from the glovebox when the guy cuts too closely into our lane. We hope not to rant about the loon on the screen when Fox News plays on the screen in the bar. Not with uncontrolled cursing.
Somehow, though, we are taught to accept aggressive behavior. Even embrace it in some cases. We train young men and women to kill for patriotism. We fret when a number of them come home and find it impossible to fit back in. When they shoot cops. When they wander the streets, homeless. When they take their own lives.
Oh, we can accept a few gentle souls as cultural icons. Just don't take them too seriously. Mr. Rogers. Tiny Tim. We can't take Edmund Muskie for a candidate, though. He cried. Don't get me started on Jimmy Carter.
It begins to occur to me that it's no coincidence that so many of these folks are my heroes. I'm reminded of my great preference of women over men as leaders.
Is E.O. Wilson right? Are we just wired for this darkness? Is it just genetic?
"Mr. Wilson, allow me to introduce the Dali Lama."
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