Why? The peter principle could be part of it, but I suspect it is unlikely to explain everybody. I think there is a simpler answer: basic human nature, in the

Why? The peter principle could be part of it, but I suspect it is unlikely to explain everybody. I think there is a simpler answer: basic human nature, in the form of "alpha male"-style dominance displays, tribalism and the instincts/"folk wisdom" associated with it, and even - in some cases - plain sadism. The movie "Dr. Strangelove" was basically an exploration of these behaviors. On top of that, add in the well-known source of bias and limited thinking "When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail". (Or for the HN crowd, "When all you know is SQL, every problem looks like it needs a database.") We should not be surprised when the people we train to use violence as a means to an end end up suggesting violence as a solution to other problems.