Samuel Bowles' 2008 Ulam lectures at Santa Fe Institute did a deep dive into the evolution of tribal/kinship group wars in ancient human populations. Bowles' team did a bunch of computer modeling, and came to the conclusion, similarly with other sociologists, that war is:
Samuel Bowles' 2008 Ulam lectures at Santa Fe Institute did a deep dive into the evolution of tribal/kinship group wars in ancient human populations. Bowles' team did a bunch of computer modeling, and came to the conclusion, similarly with other sociologists, that war is:
1. old as dirt
2. violent conflict *between* competing kinship groups (tribes) is an important force for creating more social cooperation and altruism *within* a given kinship group.
3. the more social cooperation and altruism within a kinship group (gene pool) the better chances that group has for outcompeting other groups. INHIBITION of "primitive" emotions and instincts by individuals was crucial in the domestication of humans. The part of the human that facilitate inhibition of primitive instincts grew larger under evolutionary selection.
Conclusion: as E.O. Wilson said "the human species is dysfunctional"
In addition, around the time of the Bronze Age collapse, the biological tendency toward inhibition was "upgraded" by the emergence of contemplative spirituality and religion. That allowed for more social order in walled city state societies with complex social hierarchies, honor systems, etc.
Samuel Bowles' 2008 Ulam lectures at Santa Fe Institute did a deep dive into the evolution of tribal/kinship group wars in ancient human populations. Bowles' team did a bunch of computer modeling, and came to the conclusion, similarly with other sociologists, that war is:
1. old as dirt
2. violent conflict *between* competing kinship groups (tribes) is an important force for creating more social cooperation and altruism *within* a given kinship group.
3. the more social cooperation and altruism within a kinship group (gene pool) the better chances that group has for outcompeting other groups. INHIBITION of "primitive" emotions and instincts by individuals was crucial in the domestication of humans. The part of the human that facilitate inhibition of primitive instincts grew larger under evolutionary selection.
Conclusion: as E.O. Wilson said "the human species is dysfunctional"
In addition, around the time of the Bronze Age collapse, the biological tendency toward inhibition was "upgraded" by the emergence of contemplative spirituality and religion. That allowed for more social order in walled city state societies with complex social hierarchies, honor systems, etc.