Elektrische Spiegel

This essay proposes a fundamental shift in understanding the roots of human violence. Rather than viewing war, aggression, and conflict as consequences of resource scarcity or ideology alone, it frames the “culture of violence” as the inevitable product of the human brain’s demand for recognition. Drawing on neuroscientific and social theory, it argues that all external risk factors—leadership, propaganda, technology, or economic conditions—are merely modifiers of recognition demand. Through detailed analysis and case studies, including the Ukraine war, the essay reveals how recognition loops, amplified by leaders and cultural narratives, can override even the most advanced cognitive and institutional safeguards, fueling violence on both individual and societal scales.