The problem with the term “animals” is that it is too general. What rioters do is below many member of the animal kingdom. Do primates or dolphins act this way? Of course not. Also, if black people are involved, the term “animals” sets off an escalating cycle of dichotomous noise around the comparison with monkeys.  The result is a lot of time wasted, more dichotomous thinking and a clear insult to monkeys.

Riots are in response to real longstanding injustices. The problem is the disconnect between the goal of addressing injustice and the counter productive acts of rioting and looting. Higher animals are capable of learning and making connections between actions and consequences. I suggest a more useful pejorative is to compare rioters specifically to reptiles.

For years I have been promoting the use of the word “dichotomous” as a way of promoting problem solving. I have never had any illusion that teenagers or those who think like teenagers would ever pick this word up. When it comes to the problem of rioting and looting, only teenagers will be able to influence other teenagers. Teenagers love to call each other names, but terms like “idiot’ and “moron” are too worn out to be effective.

The term “reptilian brain” is often used to refer to the more primitive anatomical structures that underlie dichotomous thinking. Rioting is as good an example of dichotomous thinking usurping problem-solving as there can be. If we could encourage a comparison between rioters and reptiles we might be able to embarrass some individuals into rethinking their actions without introducing new cycles of dichotomous noise.