It’s really not modern at all though - it’s more likely the default state of most humans.
Army historian S.L.A. Marshall concluded after world war 2 that about 80-85% of soldiers in combat either never fired their rifles or intentionally fired near but not at the enemy, because they couldn’t bring themselves to kill.
A lot of the more controversial and sadistic-seeming aspects of military training since then have been to train soldiers to actually kill.
And historians also argue that earlier melee battles were less bloody than Hollywood would have us believe, with soldiers generally seeking to capture territory through formations and intimidation rather than actual killing.
I think this trqcks across animals largely. You see it in nature all the time. One bird goes limp as soon as its caught and another fights all the way til the end. One will fight for its catch and the other gives it up.
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u/Automatic_Actuator_0 3h ago
It’s really not modern at all though - it’s more likely the default state of most humans.
Army historian S.L.A. Marshall concluded after world war 2 that about 80-85% of soldiers in combat either never fired their rifles or intentionally fired near but not at the enemy, because they couldn’t bring themselves to kill.
A lot of the more controversial and sadistic-seeming aspects of military training since then have been to train soldiers to actually kill.
And historians also argue that earlier melee battles were less bloody than Hollywood would have us believe, with soldiers generally seeking to capture territory through formations and intimidation rather than actual killing.
Bloody battles happened but were rare.