The Tender & Terrible Universe

We were sitting at the dining table, my younger sibling and I, talking about recent and upcoming movies. I told them I was eager for the adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk, and how I wanted to watch it with them — a small attempt at making up for the last film we missed together.

When the Dead To Rights trailer ended, Rai sighed. "Sometimes I look at things like this and wonder how it’s possible for us to do this to each other. Like, it’s crazy how animals with intelligence partake in violence for fun.”

That last phrase clung to me. Animals with intelligence partake in violence for fun.

We listed examples: orcas batting seals into the air as if the ocean itself were a stage; dolphins dragging porpoises into play that ends with their bodies torn apart; chimpanzees organising raids, not out of hunger but the thrill of domination.

The spiral opened.

Is violence intrinsic to intelligence?

What does it mean, then, to be intelligent?

Violence in not necessary, but it is inherent.