in nature, for all creatures, might is inherently right -- that is, stronger or bigger is superior because crushing/destroying an  enemy works so well-- obviously it's been coined "the law of the jungle"   -- as soon as intelligence is introduced, things get much more complex (as size and strength can both be bested by intelligence).

The abstraction comes about by removing the physical violence component and adding language.

With the maturation of communication channels it's now possible to substitute written language, which is where I'm trying to go with this.  In the ascii text world of newsgroup/mailing-list communication via email/forums/whatever I think I've discovered some universal truths.  To start with, in the world of arguments, the simpleton way to look at things is simply that the person who gets the last word wins.  Of course in reality this may or may not be true, but very often it's the perception of the arguers (due to biological instincts tuned to optimize combat success) that this is the case.  The idea of "saving face" is often important if the argument is to be ended on good terms.

In the wide open world of the internet of course we're not always talking about 1 on 1 interactions.  Which of course makes resolution that much harder.   And with everyone trying to get the last word...