People are Not as Conscious as We Often Make Them Out To Be

Beneath the facade of "kindness" and "proper behavior" exists strong impulses which lead to behaviors we typically label as "brutish", "barbaric", "unkind", "improper". We tend to assume that humans are more in control of their behavior than they really are. We place responsibility of human behavior onto conscious will, as if "we should know better", as if we can completely dictate and control all of our own behaviors.

As humans we have conscious will... but our reserves are quite limited, with many other processes (usually related to survival) running in the background. When the reservoir runs dry, what lies beneath is more easily exposed. And what lies beneath is often bigger and stronger than any one individual.