Posted on 10/26/2007 7:02:47 PM PDT by woofie
War— humanity's great curse— seems to have developed hand-in-hand with the better angels of our nature, new research suggests.
The strange combination of sharing with our neighbors while we engage in organized group killing of outsiders— two relatively unusual and puzzling human traits— could in fact go together, according to new research by a New Mexico scientist.
Groups of brutish warriors— fierce toward neighbors while nobly sharing among themselves— could have swept aside groups that otherwise would have prospered in peace, Santa Fe Institute researcher Samuel Bowles has found.
Bowles said in an interview this week that he finds the results of his research "unsettling."
But whether this aspect of human nature is genetic or cultural, Bowles said the fact that war is part of our nature does not mean we can't overcome it.
"Our legacy need not be our destiny," Bowles said.
Bowles, an economist whose career defies academic labels, has spent time in the field studying hunter-gatherer cultures in Africa and Latin America, trying to understand the basis of human cultural behaviors.
For his most recent work, he teamed with Jung-Kyoo Choi of Kyungpook National University in South Korea to try to explain two of the great puzzles of human evolution: altruism and war.
The results of their research are being published today in the journal Science.
In evolutionary terms, war has always been a bit of a mystery.
Evolution favors those who live long enough to have lots of offspring and who acquire the resources so those offspring can prosper and have offspring of their own.
Going on the attack against your neighbors costs resources and risks death, two behaviors that are generally bad evolutionary bargains.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
war might have developed pre Bush ...hard to believe
War exists because there are people who only pay attention after receiving an ass-kicking.
It's just that simple.And there's not a damn thing we can do about it...unfortunately.
War originated with Richard Nixon when he ordered John Kerry to Cambodia in December 1968.
War will exist as long as there are pacifists.
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again, y’all
War, huh, good God
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
Ohhh, war, I despise
Because it means destruction
Of innocent lives
War means tears
To thousands of mothers eyes
When their sons go to fight
And lose their lives
I said, war, huh
Good God, y’all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War, whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
War, it ain’t nothing
But a heartbreaker
War, friend only to the undertaker
Ooooh, war
It’s an enemy to all mankind
The point of war blows my mind
War has caused unrest
Within the younger generation
Induction then destruction
Who wants to die
Aaaaah, war-huh
Good God y’all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it, say it, say it
War, huh
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again y’all
War, huh, good God
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
War, it ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker
War, it’s got one friend
That’s the undertaker
Ooooh, war, has shattered
Many a young mans dreams
Made him disabled, bitter and mean
Life is much to short and precious
To spend fighting wars these days
War can’t give life
It can only take it away
Ooooh, war, huh
Good God y’all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War, whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
War, it ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker
War, friend only to the undertaker
Peace, love and understanding
Tell me, is there no place for them today
They say we must fight to keep our freedom
But Lord knows there’s got to be a better way
Ooooooh, war, huh
Good God y’all
What is it good for
You tell me
Say it, say it, say it, say it
War, huh
Good God y’all
What is it good for
Stand up and shout it
Nothing
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
well thats one view
On the other hand....
“War originated with Richard Nixon when he ordered John Kerry to Cambodia in December 1968.”
Really? I thought war originated with FDR when he duped the poor, naive Japanese into bombing Perl Harbor so that he’d have an excuse to invade north africa and steal all the oil.
Perhaps there will be no more war when every nation is a democracy?
But in the long run, the peaceniks got shoved out by people who were altruistic within their own group but willing to wage war against outsiders. The warriors would provoke wars and then win them, giving them dominance despite the evolutionary costs of battle, Bowles and Choi found
John Liberal thought it wrong to fight.
Abdul, who killed him, thought it right.
THANKS A LOT!!!!
That belongs on a tee shirt and/or bumper sticker!!
and Chimpanzee traits.
Unless you win.
"Let the dice fly high!" --Julius Caesar
All the author had to do was watch the first five minutes of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and he would have seen the his weighty observation played out to great music long before he crystallized this amazing finding in his pea brain.
From the bowles of Samuel Bowles.
It costs less in resources to steal what others have accumulated through hard work. That is the basis behind conquest and that is why those who build you must be ready to defend what they have built.
Chimps live in patriarichal bands which engage in organized warfare and they have been far more successful than their bonobo relatives who are matriarichal and don’t engage in warfare. Social evolutionists say that humans share traits from both groups though making us far more complex.
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