I agree with dodge in that Prometheus is misinterpreting Oliver's "secret," but not for the same reason. I think it's true that Oliver, at his darkest point that we're now seeing in flashbacks, did take pleasure in killing. I don't think it's true that he still does. The vigilante who came back to Starling City five years ago was a killer by choice, using the List as his excuse, but he's changed since then. Then, he was a "monster" shaped by his ordeals and by the influence of enemies like Fyers, Ivo, and Baron Reiter and allies like Slade, Waller, the Bratva, and Talia. So the darkness in him was at its strongest. But in the years since, he's been shaped by more positive influences -- Diggle, the Lances, Felicity, Barry, etc. The man he is now is not the man he was five years ago. Chase can't see that because he's still stuck in the past, unable to grow, so he assumes the same is true of Oliver. But Oliver has grown a lot. He can't entirely move beyond the influence of his past, but he is better now than he was then.
No, but it's cool.
No, we're basically empathetic beings. We evolved to use cooperation as our primary survival trait, to form communities that are stronger than any individual. That's why we evolved traits like language and the capacity to form lasting family bonds. Sensationalist depictions of prehistory play up our hunting side, but in fact, hunting never provided more than 1/3 of a community's calories; we subsisted mainly through gathering, and our hominid ancestors were initially herbivores and scavengers before they evolved into omnivores. And gathering was a communal activity performed by women and children in groups, working together and looking out for each other -- and then sharing the fruits of their labor with the men, who shared the, err, meats of their labor in turn. Aggression was one of our survival skills for hunting and defense, yes, but not our primary skill, otherwise we'd have no communities, families, language, or civilization.
So human existence is defined by our capacity for empathy and cooperation. Cruelty is what happens when that innate tendency is damaged or uncultivated, due to developmental defects or traumatic or neglectful upbringing. Psychopaths are born without the parts of the brain that enable us to care for one another, but that deficiency can be ameliorated if they're raised in loving, stimulating environments. Neglect and abuse cause actual physical brain damage that impairs those same potentials for empathy and affection. A healthy, properly developed brain is a compassionate one. Cruelty and hate are malfunctions.
No, but it's cool.
No, we're basically empathetic beings. We evolved to use cooperation as our primary survival trait, to form communities that are stronger than any individual. That's why we evolved traits like language and the capacity to form lasting family bonds. Sensationalist depictions of prehistory play up our hunting side, but in fact, hunting never provided more than 1/3 of a community's calories; we subsisted mainly through gathering, and our hominid ancestors were initially herbivores and scavengers before they evolved into omnivores. And gathering was a communal activity performed by women and children in groups, working together and looking out for each other -- and then sharing the fruits of their labor with the men, who shared the, err, meats of their labor in turn. Aggression was one of our survival skills for hunting and defense, yes, but not our primary skill, otherwise we'd have no communities, families, language, or civilization.
So human existence is defined by our capacity for empathy and cooperation. Cruelty is what happens when that innate tendency is damaged or uncultivated, due to developmental defects or traumatic or neglectful upbringing. Psychopaths are born without the parts of the brain that enable us to care for one another, but that deficiency can be ameliorated if they're raised in loving, stimulating environments. Neglect and abuse cause actual physical brain damage that impairs those same potentials for empathy and affection. A healthy, properly developed brain is a compassionate one. Cruelty and hate are malfunctions.
