War, for all its horror, has always had its admirers. The poets romanticise it. The generals study it. The bored and bitter sometimes root for it like it’s a football match with real casualties. Through the Nincompoop Lens, this isn’t surprising — it’s textbook human psychology doing what it does best: projecting, shortcutting, and backfilling nonsense with meaning.

Romanticising Chaos

Let’s start with those who see war as noble, even necessary. These are often people who’ve never faced it directly — armchair patriots, ideological diehards, or self-styled philosophers of strength. They imagine war as a proving ground for honour, courage, and clarity — a chance to be tested, to matter, to be right.

But what is really happening is Projection. The Nincompoop mind takes a deep craving for purpose or unresolved personal conflict, and projects it onto the battlefield. “War brings out the best in men,” says the man whose best has never been tested by anything more intense than a traffic jam.

Confirmation bias then does its part: historic victories are remembered with swelling pride, while the horror — amputations, trauma, mass graves — is sanitised or explained away as “the price of greatness.”

The Identity Boost: Us vs. Them

War offers something people desperately want: a team to belong to and an enemy to blame. It simplifies life. Tribalism finds its perfect playground. No more messy nuance — just “us” and “them,” good and evil, the flag and the threat.

People whose identities feel fragile, uncertain, or culturally adrift can find war exhilarating — not for the violence itself, but for the clarity. In peacetime, you’re unsure who you are. In wartime, you’re a soldier, a patriot, a defender. Identity on tap.

It’s emotionally lazy. It’s an escape from ambiguity and a shortcut to meaning. No need for introspection when you can wrap yourself in a uniform (real or ideological) and shout slogans at the sky.

The Economically Disconnected: War as Opportunity

Then there are those who benefit. Politicians in need of distraction. Corporations manufacturing weaponry. Economies that profit from instability elsewhere. For them, war is not romantic — it’s useful.

The Nincompoopery here is subtler: it’s rationalisation. These actors often convince themselves that war is regrettable but necessary — “collateral damage” in the name of “national interest” or “freedom.” But scratch the surface and you’ll find the same shortcuts: avoiding emotional discomfort, outsourcing responsibility, wrapping greed in grand language.

The Spectators: War as Entertainment

And then, unsettlingly, some just like to watch. The news cycle becomes a bloodsport. Social media lights up with armchair generals dissecting troop movements and tank specs. The psychology here is pure emotional distancing. When you don’t feel the bombs, war becomes spectacle. A way to feel intelligent, involved, morally superior — without risk.

Again, it’s the Nincompoop mind creating a false sense of engagement. Like watching a car crash in slow motion and narrating it as if you’re a surgeon.

The Final Irony

The ultimate twist is this: people may love war because it’s irrational. It releases them from the burden of nuance, thought, and compromise. It gives permission to indulge in extremity — rage, pride, nationalism — without apology.

This isn’t surprising. War flatters our worst instincts and rewards our laziest thinking. And in a world where thinking is already hard work, that’s dangerously attractive.