Book Review: On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society

On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, by Dave Grossman

Source: Amazon.com

From the book's cover:

The good news is that most soldiers are loath to kill. But armies have developed sophisticated ways of overcoming this instinctive aversion. And contemporary civilian society, particularly the media, replicates the army's conditioning techniques, and, according to Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's thesis, is responsible for our rising rate of murder among the young.

Upon its initial publication, ON KILLING was hailed as a landmark study of the techniques the military uses to overcome the powerful reluctance to kill, of how killing affects soldiers, and of the societal implications of escalating violence. Now, Grossman has updated this classic work to include information on 21st-century military conflicts, recent trends in crime, suicide bombings, school shootings, and more. The result is a work certain to be relevant and important for decades to come.

The review:

This one really made me think. For instance, the first half or so of On Killing covers statistics and anecdotes relating to how often in history soldiers have been averse to killing their fellow human beings on the field of battle. The cited details of muskets found on black powder battlefields, such as those of the US Civil War, which were loaded repeatedly but not fired, is astounding. I’ve always heard that artillery, and later machine guns, have been the big killer in land combat, but never understood fully why that was. On Killing sheds new light on the subject, and gives a person hope for the basic nature of humanity.

The author, Dave Grossman. / Source: Killology.com

Sadly, the author then points out what small percentage of people are able to kill without remorse or psychological trauma (sociopaths) and how they make excellent soldiers. Grossman then goes into detail about how the firing rate (and thus the killing rate) was increased from between World War II (aprox 25% for US. G.I.’s) to Vietnam (upwards of 95%). The author points out how this increase in killing numbers (body count) leads to trauma on human soldier psyche’s, and the results. He details how combat can be de-personalized by moving some of the important factors, such as physical distance, emotional detachment, or how the killer views his target (social strata, revenge, justice, etc…).

The book ends with the author making much of how America has become desensitized to killing, due to slasher movies and violent video games. Grossman points out that our young people are being indoctrinated into a killing sort of mindset, and how dangerous this is. Since the book was written in 1995, I can only wonder how the stats the author quoted have been affected, since many movies are even more violent than before, and video games have taken a turn into regions unthought of in previous years in sophistication and in sheer ability to suspend disbelief. The "FPS" (First Person Shooter) games of today train those who play them the ability to distance themselves from a kill in ways that military commanders would have killed for between World War II and Vietnam.


Gameplay footage from Call of Duty: Ghosts, one of the recent first person shooters available for video game systems and PC's.  I wonder what Grossman's take on these games would be.   They're certainly a far cry from the first generation of such shooters, such as Wolfenstein 3D or Doom, though the general idea, and violence level, are similar enough in context.

Then again, I happen to think some of his data is a bit skewed, but I do believe it is valid in most of its findings, and agree that the author made his point. Overall, On Killing was very much worth my time, and I am glad I read it. Recommended for those who are interested in getting a more in-depth understanding of the subject of killing, and how it affects human beings. I’d say even those who are a little curious on the subject, even if you feel it might be morbid to admit it, would be glad they took the time. That old quote about “war is hell,” rings even truer, once you have read On Killing.  A very healthy - though at times graphic and even disturbing - look at a very sadly prominent subject in our world.

Learn more about On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, by Dave Grossman, on Amazon.com


The parting comment:

Source: LOLSnaps.com

Our most recent cat, Scout, has been experiencing similar facial expressions lately.  He can't seem to fathom why we won't let him out as often as when the weather was warmer, nor why it has to be cold outside.  By his expressions, you'd think someone was playing a particularly mean practical joke on him.  And then comes the scowl full of disdain, like he's thinking "I'm going to find the responsible party and make them pay... oh I'm going to make them pay!"