One of the forces present in society is people striving to not just meet some moral standard, but be seen as more moral than others. This is often present both in demonstrating virtue and demonstrating the absence of vice. [“Let me show you how not racist I am!”] For much of human history, courage and strength have been important virtues, and cowardice and weakness important vices.
In England during World War I, as thousands were dying pointlessly in the trenches, pretty girls went around handing white feathers — a symbol of cowardice — to men who weren’t in uniform. [src]
Participation in and advocacy for war are often seen as evidence against personal cowardice and for personal bravery. (The slur “chickenhawk” deflates advocacy without participation, by separating out hollow signaling from substantiated signaling.) Like Kaj, my sense is that people have a baked-in sense of how good war is that’s more tuned to our long evolutionary history than the recent, present, or future bits.
One of the forces present in society is people striving to not just meet some moral standard, but be seen as more moral than others. This is often present both in demonstrating virtue and demonstrating the absence of vice. [“Let me show you how not racist I am!”] For much of human history, courage and strength have been important virtues, and cowardice and weakness important vices.
Participation in and advocacy for war are often seen as evidence against personal cowardice and for personal bravery. (The slur “chickenhawk” deflates advocacy without participation, by separating out hollow signaling from substantiated signaling.) Like Kaj, my sense is that people have a baked-in sense of how good war is that’s more tuned to our long evolutionary history than the recent, present, or future bits.