I'm curious about this advice. It makes sense in a kill-or-be-killed scenario, but it seems like the people who habitually start fights want to hurt and humili

I'm curious about this advice. It makes sense in a kill-or-be-killed scenario, but it seems like the people who habitually start fights want to hurt and humiliate somebody, establish their superiority, and feel like a badass, not kill or maim somebody. They have some (however strange) idea of what's acceptable violence and what's dirty. If you seriously gouge a guy's eyes but don't win the fight, his objective might change from beating you down to seriously hurting you in retaliation for your transgression. In a "social" fight where a guy thinks he is restoring his slighted masculinity or enforcing his idea of the proper order of the universe, I would think the better odds offered by fighting dirty would be outweighed by the possibly much worse outcome if you lose. Granted, you can get killed or seriously injured in any kind of fight, but why make it more likely? Does that make sense?