War and Poetry

Published December 14, 2025

self deception
mythology of violence

War is a perfect predatory mechanism that solves cold, mathematical problems of survival and dominance. But this mechanism is utterly helpless and cannot start without its irrational fuel — a great and simple story that convinces millions of rational beings that their personal, agonizing death has cosmic significance. War is a marriage of ruthless biology and high poetry. Wars begin when a story appears that transforms killing from a crime into a sacred duty.

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