A recent New Scientist article published in issue 2682 has discussed the new theory of warfare being an integral part of our evolution to where we are today, quoting evolutionary psychologist Mark Van Vugt as saying that "It [warfare] has been a significant selection pressure on the human species".
According to Bob Holmes, the author of the article this theory challenges "the prevailing view that warfare is a product of human culture and therefore a recent phenomenon" by the coming together of many different fields of science including anthropology, archaeology and psychology. When evidence of our early history has been combined it showed that warfare has been with our ancestors for thousands of years.
This can be inferred from fossil evidence of early humans, many of which have wounds consistent with warfare and also by observing our close relatives the chimpanzees. Chimp groups often launch small raiding parties upon rival groups in order to expand their territories and therefore their access to vital resources such as food and water.
This theory which emerged at a conference in October 2008 on the evolutionary origins of war at the University of Oregon in Eugene promotes the idea that the cooperative skills which were developed by early humans to become effective warriors are the basis for the ability of modern humans to be able to work together for a common goal which if true, would mean war is a huge component in the evolution of our current society.
The theory is certainly extremely interesting as it proposes something traditionally held to be the worst aspect of our nature is actually the reason why we are able to form cooperative groups in order to work together for a common cause, a great advantage for our early ancestors over the competition that we faced in our environment and a huge contributor to our intellectual development. Perhaps it is because of this that our current global community stills finds reasons to engage in war today despite the huge loss of life which can occur when nations clash.
Pictures Accessed:
http://z.about.com/d/history1800s/1/0/C/1/-/-/usdragoons.jpg
http://news.softpedia.com/images/news2/Early-Humans-Had-Short-Leggs-For-Fighting-Over-Females-2.jpg
http://www.deathreference.com/images/medd_02_img0156.jpg
URL Link to Article:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026823.800-how-warfare-shaped-human-evolution.html
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026823.800-how-warfare-shaped-human-evolution.html
Pictures Accessed:
http://z.about.com/d/history1800s/1/0/C/1/-/-/usdragoons.jpg
http://news.softpedia.com/images/news2/Early-Humans-Had-Short-Leggs-For-Fighting-Over-Females-2.jpg
http://www.deathreference.com/images/medd_02_img0156.jpg
