Why do we want peace?

Question

What are some negative effects of peace?

The most profound answer gets the 10 points.

Answer 1

Complacency and no desire or motivation to create new technologies. The Cold War was a great tool to get space exploration out of the theoretical category and onto the implementation stages. The World Wars gave birth to many new medical technologies, as well as transportation advancements. If not for the threat of war, do you think any jet would have the capability to absorb radar? Would we have wondered about the possibilities of splitting the atom to yield energy? We learn fascinating things just by being threatened and get motivated to either protect ourselves or destroy someone else.
Is it a tragedy that people die in war? Yes. People die all the time; we all will at some point. Their deaths will have not been in vain if the war they fought made humans as a whole advance to new levels of discovery.

Answer 2

We want peace because peace is what we're destined for. We won't get it until the Second Coming but we're in the world to make a positive difference. And making a positive difference means helping to make the world a better, more peaceful place to live.

The one and only negative effect of total peace is that if we had it, we would have nothing to live or work for. Because we have uncertainty in our lives- we don't know exactly why we're here, what the future holds, etc- we will always feel the need to work toward goals. Which is why we won't get total peace until we make it to heaven and no longer need to work toward it. At that time we will learn the meaning of life and the answers to all other questions, so we will be perfectly happy and content to live peacefully. And I know there are probably a lot of non-religious people out there who think that is a total load of BS, and that's fine because I could be way off the mark, but this is what I believe.

Answer 3

Because War is expensive, dirty and oh by the way, people die! Usually, your brother, uncle or possibly your father. In this day and age, your Mother, aunt or sister. I want Peace so the world can function with prosperity for all. I don't see negatives to peace. You will always have restless souls who can't function in a normal society. Society will have to widen it's norms for the thinkers who think outside the proverbial box. Invention is creativity of the mind and spirit and peace promotes that. War is also incentive to create, usually destruction, more and better. Finally we will destroy ourselves. I'll go with peace, less negatives and longer life.

Answer 4

Allow me to tackle this from a scientific perspective, if I may.

A common question about evolution is 'if the fittest survive, how exactly do you tell who is fit?' (hang on... I'm going somewhere with this). The answer is mostly straightforward - the fittest creatures are ones who are adapted as a species to long-term survival in the environments they occupy. Fish have gills because they live in water, and they live in water because they have gills.

So what kind of a world do humans occupy? Contrary to idyllic views some have of nature, it is truly a violent and ruthless place. Cats torment mice for fun, wolves exile their own children from the pack if their children don't kill them, and every now and then a tree falls on you or a volcano erupts. Bad things happen on a regular basis.

I think the simultaneous and instinctive human desires for peace and aggression do a really good job of capturing this aspect of nature.

We want peace because we're social animals. We know emotionally and intellectually that by working together we can accomplish far more than we would alone. And if nature worked this way, it might be a practical goal.

But nature does not. So it is CRITICAL that we are willing to rape, pillage, and destroy to get what we want. Other creatures, the planet itself, and even each other. Over and over it's been proven that creatures who aren't aggressive enough end up as lunch for creatures who are. We may lose yet to kudzu, or some bacterium out there.

This isn't a licence to be hyper-aggressive. Peace, as I mentioned, is far more effective. But even if we conquer every threat this planet has to hold, how else will we be prepared to conquer other threats on other planets, or from other intelligent species who might not be so pacificistically minded?

“In peace prepare for war, in war prepare for peace. The art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Under no circumstances can it be neglected.”
- Sun Tzu

Answer 5

Whats worse than one dead american soldier, 3,500 of them. Each of those men and women, has a family and friends, who are no doubt still mourning for them. And what of the 600,000+/- Iraqis killed in the last four years. This is just our war, there are dozens of other conflicts around the world. Sure there are negative side effects to peace, but only if you look at the world with "US mint" green shades on. Each person who dies, has a story, you just dont know it.

Answer 6

Peace defeats competition. It is a huge demotivator.

Competition instills motivation. It drives individuals to do things faster, better, and cheaper.

If everyone was sitting around being peaceful there'd be no incentive to improve.

Answer 7

It is what all of humankind yearns for. Without peace, we cannot meet our basic needs. One of those needs is a sense of acceptance and belongingness. Real peace also brings a sense of control to our lives. Having these needs met gives us an opportunity to gain self esteem and to find outlets for self expression.

Even though we all have the same basic needs, there are people who try to satisfy them through domination, intimidation and subjugation. A small portion of our population contains people who are consciousless and cruel. The sociopathic personality cannot feel empathy toward others, and often will stop at nothing to meet their needs in very destructive ways. I believe that most of the world's dictators fall into this category.

Another factor to consider is fear. People are taught to fear those who are not like them. We are taught to distrust someone whose ideology, religion and ethnicity differ from our own.

I do not believe that real, lasting peace would have negative effects on our world. Quite the contrary: money not spent on war could be used to improve quality of life in countless ways. The cessation of mass murder, displacement of vast numbers of people and destruction of homes and businesses alone would allow progress.

Answer 8

Every person on this earth is different, and peace may not suit them. This is a rather confusing matter, but in the way children are rasised today, with this waste, hatred, and violence, they were born to be closed-minded fighters, and this cannot be changed.

Thats why society needs to change its ways if it really wants peace.

Answer 9

Mistake of rationality. Hard times and oppression develop psychic muscle. Without conflict and strife, the instincts atrophy. The instincts are rooted in survival. It is short sighted to hope for only "peace," like asking for a universe with only "light" and no dark. They imply one another.

Answer 10

Because too much has happens in ones life a time for peace is needed.