2-If we left the law ofthe jungle behind us in human history,how come "it" keeps popping up as the way tolive?

Question

This is the fully-worded Q: 2-If we left "the law of the jungle" behind us somewhere in human history,how come "it" keeps popping up as the way to live in civilized society?

I have also asked this Q in the philosophy category.( pls do not Answer in both places.)

Category

Answer 1

Basic "Man" will always have a freight/flight issue.

No amount of social engineering can change the survival nature that lets us exist, it's our job so we can procreate and preserve the species

"If"  is the operative word here.  

'It' is not the way to live on a continuing , conscious level  and maintain your sanity. but it is a survival instinct that kicks in ,say, if your confronted one dark night on your way  up your sidewalk, or perhaps behind enemy lines being chased by a rival tribe.

Answer 2

If by the Law of the Jungle you mean "every person for him- or herself" and "anything goes" (survival of the strongest or smartest), then it has never been left behind, but rather subdued.

It is not the task of Civilization to leave the Law of the Jungle, it is the job of finding a replacement for it and this is an on going procedure.  It started before recorded history.  It continues today.

Humans are and always have been social beings.  It is the interactions of individual humans which changed our behavior from following the Law of the Jungle to something more refined.  Yet in periods of great stress, our learned civil laws get overruled by our genetically coded patterns of behavior.

Because humanity conceives itself as the Top Dog in a possible "dog eat dog" world, the rules of our behavior have greater consequences that merely staying alive in our modern concrete, steel and glass jungle.  Not all human societies agree as to what Civilized behavior should be.  When the Civilized Laws of a society fail, we, as humans, are left with personal choices, some of which might lead us back to our  more primitive patterns of behavior.

Answer 3

We have evolved from ancestors for whom the law of the jungle was the way of life. It remains in our genes, and has not fully gone; because the instinct/need to fight still remains today, even in venerable and supposedly "civilized" nations.

We're all still in the jungle, really. Just suits and sleek sedans, haircuts and shiny shoes and watching the Academy Awards are supposed to prove otherwise. It proves man is in denial.  

Answer 4

Because we only IMAGINE that we left it behind...

We can dress ourselves up, and disguise it, but when it comes down to the truth, we are just an advanced breed of monkey, on a minor planet, of a very average star...