#there are lots of ways to try to avoid or de-escalate a bear encounter

[narse-tantalus]

Even predator animals are highly selective in what they try to kill, because killing consumes a huge amount of energy and attempting to kill is dangerous. no living being goes around recklessly doing violence because it's bad for it, the animal.

Wrong. The Jellyfish.

I actually do not believe humans have a guiding moral system. That does not predict or explain human behavior very well at all. Most people's behavior is far more easily explained by their emotions, their needs, and what everyone around them considers it to be normal to do. Most people will instinctively stay alive, stay comfortable, and avoid social ostracism, and their actions flow clearly from that. the patterns of behavior are predictable, but not morally consistent or principled.

And in the absence of adhering to true "morals," most humans don't go around killing/maiming/assaulting people anyway. Because there is little reason to. it's rarely fun or enjoyable, and dealing with the fallout of it would be a real pain.

I always wonder why moral theorists assume we need some belief system to keep us from killing one another. What do you get out of killing someone? It is exhausting and messy. Animals do not have a moral system and they don't go around killing other animals for no good reason. Even predator animals are highly selective in what they try to kill, because killing consumes a huge amount of energy and attempting to kill is dangerous. no living being goes around recklessly doing violence because it's bad for it, the animal.

We do not have to worry about humans being wantonly "evil". Most behaviors that we label as evil are a huge pain in the ass to do, with zero clear gain. when humans do treat one another violently there is virtually always some intense overpowering need they are trying to meet, some survival stakes that make it the better option in that moment than doing nothing.

The acts of violence and abuse that happen in the world on a more global scale occur not because of someone lacking morals, but because people in power have a vested economic or political reason to do it, and face relatively low risk. It is easy for the leaders of imperial powers to genocide people, it does not place them in physical danger, and they stand to gain a lot from it. thats why it happens. thats what we gotta worry about. that some people have clear incentives to kill/maim/rape on a global scale, and doing so costs them nearly nothing. not that people are "evil"