"Aggression only moves in one direction - it creates more aggression"
About this Quote
Aggression, Wheatley argues, is not a tool you can aim and then put back on the shelf; it is a self-replicating force. The line is bluntly directional: “only moves in one direction.” That phrasing strips away the comforting fantasy that force can be neatly calibrated, that you can “win” a conflict with just enough pressure and then return to normal. It’s a systems thinker’s warning disguised as a moral statement: in human groups, violence and hostility don’t behave like a single action, they behave like feedback loops.
The subtext is about contagion and permission. Aggression doesn’t just harm the target; it teaches everyone watching what’s now allowed. It lowers the social cost of retaliation, invites preemptive strikes, and turns fear into policy. Even when aggression is framed as “necessary” (discipline at work, hardline politics, punitive policing, militarized problem-solving), it tends to recruit its own justification after the fact: the backlash becomes proof that harsher measures were required. That’s the loop.
Wheatley’s broader context matters. As a leadership writer shaped by organizational behavior and complexity, she’s skeptical of command-and-control fixes. The quote is aimed at managers, institutions, and governments that mistake dominance for stability. It’s also quietly accusatory: if aggression keeps multiplying, the initiator can’t plead innocence. The intent is to shift the question from “Who started it?” to “What pattern are we feeding?”
The subtext is about contagion and permission. Aggression doesn’t just harm the target; it teaches everyone watching what’s now allowed. It lowers the social cost of retaliation, invites preemptive strikes, and turns fear into policy. Even when aggression is framed as “necessary” (discipline at work, hardline politics, punitive policing, militarized problem-solving), it tends to recruit its own justification after the fact: the backlash becomes proof that harsher measures were required. That’s the loop.
Wheatley’s broader context matters. As a leadership writer shaped by organizational behavior and complexity, she’s skeptical of command-and-control fixes. The quote is aimed at managers, institutions, and governments that mistake dominance for stability. It’s also quietly accusatory: if aggression keeps multiplying, the initiator can’t plead innocence. The intent is to shift the question from “Who started it?” to “What pattern are we feeding?”
Quote Details
| Topic | Peace |
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