Dimensions of Conflict

We humans have evolved a myriad of dimensions of conflict. After all, if you can't beat your opponent in an existing dimension, why not make up a new dimension in which you can beat him? Thus human creativity has been bent toward the development of all kinds of conflict, and designers now have only to pick over this feast to find one dimension capable of providing interesting possibilities.

Physical

This is the oldest and most fundamental dimension of conflict. Bash the other guy on the head, kick him in the butt, or punch him in the nose. People have been resolving their disputes in this fashion since, well, before they were human. Early on, we humans applied our tool-making skills to the problem and invented "the weapon" a big stick or a rock and we've been improving it ever since.

We should differentiate between physical conflict as a means of establishing dominance and physical conflict as a means of eliminating others. Sometimes the use of physical force is only a means of intimidating a rival, and so can take more symbolic means. A gorilla pounding his chest makes a deep resonant sound indicating the volume of his torso, and by implication, the magnitude of his upper body strength. An animal's growl serves a similar function. Baring the teeth is another example of demonstrating physical prowess prior to actual physical conflict. Humans pound the table with their fists, shout, or grind their teeth as demonstrations of physical strength. And if simple demonstrations are insufficient to intimidate a rival, the actual application of physical force tends to concentrate on the area that combines the greatest emotional impact with the least actual injury: the face.

Physical conflict "to the death" is another matter entirely. In animal behavior, deadly conflict is rarely mixed with dominance conflict; typically, dominance conflict is applied to members of one's own species, where deadly conflict is applied to other species. The only exceptions I can think of are wolves and humans.

Verbal

Language is another of our uniquely human inventions, and we can only guess how early in linguistic history the first insult appeared but there's little doubt that it preceded, say, the first love poem. Linguistic conflict normally takes several different forms. The first is the "insult battle," in which two rivals compete to see who can produce the most humiliating insult. Another verbal conflict is the "boasting battle," in which the two combatants attempt to outdo each other in exaggerated tales of physical prowess.

While such battles are usually executed with some jocularity, serious insults play a large and varied role in human conflict. We have a colorful menu of simple one-shot imprecations. Then there are the escalatory sequences: "You talking to ME?" "Smile when you say that, pardner!" "You wanna make something of it?" More interesting are the more sophisticated forms of insult, such as the left-handed compliment: "Dear, you are so daring to show up wearing last year's fashions!" Or the crypto-insult, using terminology that the victim cannot fathom: "You look charmingly coprophilous today, my dear!"

A particularly effective form of verbal conflict is narrative assault, in which the attacker tells a fascinating story to a spellbound audience but the story contains elements inimical to the interests of the storyteller's opponent. A perfect example of such verbal conflict is provided by the famous Apple Macintosh "1984" commercial, in which a youthful female athlete smashes a symbol of oppression and dehumanization. Apple's target was the IBM PC, which had established dominance in the market. The beauty of the approach is that it permits no effective response. What was IBM to do, broadcast a commercial with a dictator hunting down and capturing the Macintosh woman?

The insulting joke is perhaps the most cruelly effective form of verbal assault. There is nothing more humiliating than to be laughed at, and the fury this kindles in the victim paralyzes his ability to prepare a riposte in kind.

Political

In this form of conflict, the combatants seek to recruit allies and undermine their opponent's social alliances. The most common term for such behavior is "back-stabbing," but in truth a great many behaviors are encompassed herein. Something so simple as a friendly conversation with a third party can be carried out with malevolent political intent, even if the conversation itself is friendly and pleasant. Once again, humans have developed an impressive array of such behaviors: bad-mouthing, insinuation, questioning another's credentials, framing the victim for some crime he did not commit, falsely informing the victim's allies that he has betrayed them, and so on.

Economic

A rarer medium of conflict is the economic arena. If you can't punch your adversary, insult him, or discredit him, perhaps you can financially ruin him. This is of course the primary form of conflict in business environments, but it can also be extended to other arenas. Smuggle some rotten meat into your enemy's food products, and you can ruin him financially.