Lambert warned that droughts, which are expected to increase as a result of global warming, are already triggering conflicts around the world today. To drive this point home, she flashed a photograph of a well in Somalia; so far 250 Somalians have died battling over control of the well. To forestall such conflicts, Lambert said, governments must ensure equitable distribution of water and other resources.
The most upbeat speaker was Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, who argued that—contrary to what many scientists once believed—levels of violence are much lower in our era than they were before the advent of modern states some 10,000 years ago. According to ethnographic surveys and archaeological evidence, Pinker pointed out, 30 percent or more of the members of tribal societies died as a result of group violence; that percentage is some 10 times greater than the proportion of Europeans and North Americans killed by war-related causes during the cataclysmic 20th century.
Pinker identified several possible reasons for this trend. First, our increased life expectancies make us less willing to risk our lives by engaging in violence. Second, the creation of stable governments with effective legal systems and police forces has eliminated what British philosopher Thomas Hobbes called the “war of all against all” among pre-state humans. Third, mass media and travel have boosted understanding of, and empathy toward, those beyond our immediate family and even nation. This may be the best news of all: civilization, which has often been blamed for war, is actually helping us achieve peace.
This story was originally published with the title "Taming the Urge to War"
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12 Comments
Add CommentGreat, an extreme oversimplification of just a few aspects of human culture passed off as science.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThese people probably also subscribe to "social contract" theory. Every time I read something like this I come away with the feeling that the real motive of modern sociology is simply to preach the values and benefits of being more modern, as if that has anything to do with basic human nature.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe human tendency to wage war with other humans is based above all on the perception that we are different from other people.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhen we find perceived common traits and values with other people, we tend to become friendly with them.
Therefore, if we want to avoid potentially devastating wars in the future, we should try to develop an understanding of every single culture and identify what unites instead of what divides us.
Man is a tribal animal, early in his evolution the strongest ruled the tribe. Men like other animals sleep, during the process he has dreams and nightmares. Thinking individuals used this to their advantage to create the ideas of gods and demons to usurp power from the strongest, now the craftiest ruled the tribe.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhen tribes met, just as with chimp tribes conflict resulted and one leader ruled the merged tribes. With time we got larger tribes, organised religions and bigger and more devastating wars.
The underlying cause is the underlying need in every man to be leader, a result of our evolution.
Good book on the subject, "Constant Battles" by LeBlanc. The fossil record is appalling.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhen they first found the ice mummy in the Alps there was all kinds of speculation about his copper ax. Was it a religious object? Was he a shaman? Turns out he had the blood of four people on his knife and an arrow in his back.
http://www.biodiversivist.com
You realize of course that globalization is accomplishing just that through the irradication of all cultural diversity. Oh, I'm not saying it'll be finished anytime soon. But it is happening all the same.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHowever, I don't believe that will erase the need for war on Earth. Man is an inherently violent and competitive creature - against his environment, against his neighbors, or (most oftenly in this era) against himself. Our lives are defined by strife.
What many do not care to think about is the idea that this is good for us. Our greatness is derived from competition and struggles against our peers. The ancient Greeks knew this - it's the reason so many amazing works of art and literature are traced back to that time and so many of today's examples imitate them.
War is an expression of humanity's violent nature. It will exist as long as we continue to strive for greatness. I am not advocating that war is a good thing; only that it is a part of us and we should learn to accept it.
In short, show me a world at peace and I will show you a world that has grown stagnant.
Drastic oversimplification of war as an extension of economics: Once a society has a surplus of some sort then bartering can begin, ushering in an age of modern economics following the basic rules of supply and demand. When supply can no longer keep up with demand no matter the increased bartering cost of the widget/resource then war ensues. Especially, if the widget/resource is demean essential in protecting and maintain their way of life. If both sides believe they can win then conventional war will occur. If one side feels it cannot win but has no other recourse then an insurgency will occur.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWWI and WWII were not about resources. Come to think of it, few modern wars seem to be about resources. I suspect that our propensity for war was put in our genes to protect resources and that proclivity remains with us. People will start wars at the drop of a hat.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.biodiversivist.com
Seems to me we have enough on our plates as it is! I mean really!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRT
www.anonymity.es.tc
Can I offer the following in response to Galaxy Man's statement?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this1. Man is not inherently violent. It is not our natural state to be actively seeking physical combat with other humans. I doubt any of us reading this article are experiencing the urge to get up from the keyboard and attack the closest person we can find, risking our own serious injury or death in the process.
2. Ironically, war is aided by our propensity to COOPERATE with our fellow man rather than an inborn tendency to seek out conflicts as individuals.
3. Our "greatness" is derived from a number of adaptations, including:
- Our ability to make and use tools
- Opposable thumbs
- Bipedal locomotion
- Abstract thinking
- Awareness of past, present & future
- Language
I'm sorry if this is an amateurish comment on this subject, but I reject the idea that we have some sort of inbuilt biological imperative to wage war, and that we "should learn to accept it."
Michael
Michael,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNote that we cooperate for the most part to compete against other cooperating groups. Your rejection of that idea is not very cooperative of you. Debate is a form of competition, your participation in one makes you a competitor, not a cooperator.
Your job is the result of winning a competition, not the result of cooperation.
Solutions to minimize warfare will remain hidden if we refuse to look at unpleasant realities.
Man is the Killer Angel, always has been, always will be.
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