How Culture Allows for War and Peace
The evolution of uniquely human cognitive abilities gave us the means to wage war—as well as the capacity to avoid it.
The evolution of uniquely human cognitive abilities gave us the means to wage war—as well as the capacity to avoid it.
International doctrines don’t always work as expected. In fact, some violence is stoked by the rules that are meant to suppress it.
The evolution of empathy may have conferred both the advantage of mercy and the tradeoffs of killing.
Much attention has focused on the apparent violence in humanity’s distant past. But evidence of kindness and care is much more widespread.
From fights over a parking space, to marauding bands of outlaws, to global conflicts, we seem to be a violent species. What lies behind these episodes of violence?
Is the return to a simple life a “new” way to advertise our good qualities? An evolutionary perspective says yes.