Tuesday, November 11, 2003
War as biological necessity
In the aftermath of the Iraq war, it is probably as good a time as any to ask the question whether war and aggression are encoded into our being. There is some research that suggests otherwise.
In the heartening if admittedly provisional opinion of a number of researchers who study warfare, aggression, and the evolutionary roots of conflict, the great philosopher was, for once, whistling in a cave. As they see it, blood lust and the desire to wage war are by no means innate. To the contrary, recent studies in the field of game theory show just how readily human beings establish cooperative networks with one another, and how quickly a cooperative strategy reaches a point of so-called fixation. Researchers argue that one need not be a Pollyanna, or even an aging hippie, to imagine a human future in which war is rare and universally condemned.
They point out that slavery was long an accepted fact of life; if your side lost the battle, tough break, the wife and kids were shipped off as slaves to the victors. Now, when cases of slavery arise in the news, they are considered perverse and unseemly.
Dr. Frans de Waal, a primatologist and professor of psychology at Emory University, points out that a different species of chimpanzee, the bonobo, chooses love over war, using a tantric array of sexual acts to resolve any social problems that arise. Serious bonobo combat is rare, and the male-to-female ratio is, accordingly, 1:1. Bonobos are as closely related to humans as are common chimpanzees, so take your pick of which might offer deeper insight into the primal "roots" of human behavior.
To me the best case against an innate proclivity to war can be made by taking a quick look north at the Scandinavan countries, whose ancestors were the various barbarian tribes. Or the fact that the interlinking of world economies makes it that much difficult to wage a war where economic consequences might be severe. Either way, it's good to keep in mind an old Einstein line that appears in this article too -- I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
In the heartening if admittedly provisional opinion of a number of researchers who study warfare, aggression, and the evolutionary roots of conflict, the great philosopher was, for once, whistling in a cave. As they see it, blood lust and the desire to wage war are by no means innate. To the contrary, recent studies in the field of game theory show just how readily human beings establish cooperative networks with one another, and how quickly a cooperative strategy reaches a point of so-called fixation. Researchers argue that one need not be a Pollyanna, or even an aging hippie, to imagine a human future in which war is rare and universally condemned.
They point out that slavery was long an accepted fact of life; if your side lost the battle, tough break, the wife and kids were shipped off as slaves to the victors. Now, when cases of slavery arise in the news, they are considered perverse and unseemly.
Dr. Frans de Waal, a primatologist and professor of psychology at Emory University, points out that a different species of chimpanzee, the bonobo, chooses love over war, using a tantric array of sexual acts to resolve any social problems that arise. Serious bonobo combat is rare, and the male-to-female ratio is, accordingly, 1:1. Bonobos are as closely related to humans as are common chimpanzees, so take your pick of which might offer deeper insight into the primal "roots" of human behavior.
To me the best case against an innate proclivity to war can be made by taking a quick look north at the Scandinavan countries, whose ancestors were the various barbarian tribes. Or the fact that the interlinking of world economies makes it that much difficult to wage a war where economic consequences might be severe. Either way, it's good to keep in mind an old Einstein line that appears in this article too -- I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
