Like in the animal kingdom, where every creature has its defenses and weapons, humans also possess powerful instruments for camouflage, defense, and attack. For example, the tiger has its claws and teeth, the eagle has its talons, the bee has its stinger, and the ant has its powerful mandibles. What then is the weapon of man? Is it his lumpy fists or fragile fingernails? No. The chief weapon of all human beings is the mind. The human mind is the most powerful force on the face of the earth. It is the human mind that allows human beings to maintain domination over all creatures on the earth, though many are equipped with very powerful systems for predation and defense. Since the human mind is the primary weapon of the human being, it is also therefore the primary and most significant instrument of violence. Sadly, most of the weak discussions and inane posturing over violence in the human world is focused on physical acts of brutality, and the inanimate objects with which people commit these physical acts. Physical violence, however, represents only a minority of true violence in human affairs. To understand the true nature of violence, one must only look at the primary weapon, the mind. It is when we look into the institutions of the human mind that the vast world of human violence begins to emerge as an endless tapestry of cruelty.
