The process of evolving violence in humans

Anyone who has been angry at some point in life and some of us - mostly men - has turned that anger into violence, such as punching someone in a match. hockey or after drinking too much beer.

Then there is violence with more evil levels, in the form of murder, war or genocide. Trying to understand what is the cause of different levels of aggression in people, from national and national fights to warfare, has long been pursued by biologists.

Does there exist an evolutionary cause that explains our level of aggression?
This is the central question that anthropologists set out at the weekly meeting at the University of Utah to discuss human violence and evolution. Speakers at the conference, 'The evolution of human aggression: The lesson for today's disputes', wants to explore how long-term human evolution affects ways we express aggression or violence in modern society.

Humans are one of the most violent but also most forgiving.(Photo: un.int)

Although it seems easy to isolate ideas into two camps - those who think that evolution makes people more peaceful and those who argue that their nature is more violent, but the answer seems still hovering between two ideas, the organizer of the conference Elizabeth Cashdan, professor of anthropology at the University of Utah said.

Cashdan, who believes that diverse emotions have developed because they benefit people in many ways, said: 'There is a lot of support for both directions: violence, reconciliation, and cooperation are all part of human nature '.

Animal instincts

According to experts, evolution can explain people expressing aggression because it is the original emotion. 'Emotions (including hatred, hate, happiness, anger) have evolved because they promote appropriate behaviors, this is certainly true for people and other animals ', Cashdan said. .

Just as love for your child increases the chances of survival of a gene, the tendency of violence may be useful for some species , agrees University of Utah biologist David Carrier.
Carrier said: 'Aggressive behaviors have evolved in species because it increases the viability of individuals or fertility, and this depends on environmental, social, reproductive and historical circumstances. of each species. People are definitely among the most violent species. ' He also added that we are also one of the most altruistic.

In natural care conditions, although some types of genetic programming for violence can exist in humans as a result of evolution, the specific habitat will determine whether that biological attribute whether to start or not.

Cashdan said: ' Biologists talk about' reaction rules', which are pre-defined responses to environmental conditions. For example, some male insects tend to protect their partners when there are fewer females in the herd. Natural selection not only forms fixed behaviors, but also creates a reaction rule - the natural element of the reaction '. In other words, violence from violence itself is rare, a series of complicated conditions that can lead most people to violent acts.

Instead of competing for food, which is now quite easy in most parts of the world, today we compete for raw materials, and some individuals lack the 'switch' that tells us when Enough. Group violence is an example of resource competition that has been misleading, although while a member's or partner's money needs are causing problems today, that may be the key. lock survived 100,000 years ago.

Feelings make us special

While aggressive nature is a natural evolutionary trait between us and other animals, the difference between humans and animals is in the complexity of emotions. Cashdan said: 'People are special because of the complexity of social relations and superior intelligence. Hate is a subtle social emotion that is hard to find in other animals. '

Aggressiveness in some animals exceeds the act of protecting territory, partners, children or food - there is some evidence that dogs and chimpanzees are also hostile - but the violence in humans has evolved. from less typical sources.

Cashdan explains: 'For example, killing the vengeance, and the cultural institutions that support or hinder it, form aggressive nature in different ways'. Intelligence, which allows most of us to overpower the nature of innate violence, also causes some people, such as parents to kill their own children, as well as institutions to excuse acts of violence. unreasonable way.

Worried about the future

Understanding the evolutionary origin of human aggression can help agencies make better policy decisions.

Cashdan remarked: 'Evolution not only makes us violent, or peaceful, it also allows us to react flexibly and adapt to different circumstances. We need to understand those circumstances if we want to change things. '

Although the dispute, as it appeared in Rwanda and Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, may be old memories, but the boundary between peace and violence is much closer than we think.
Carrier said: 'My personal opinion is that Western society in general is denying the complexity and seriousness that violence brings to the future. Peace lovers like us believe that violence and the violation of law in the past will not recur, but recent history and contemporary events are proofs of how easy violence can arise between personal and between factions'.

This becomes even more important where natural resources are becoming exhausted. Carrier warns that 'if basic resources such as food and clean water become limited, as many scientists believe that will happen due to climate change and energy shortages, then the sources of communes societies and environments that promote violence will be more difficult to control. '