[extropy-chat] Origin of Wars

[Lee Corbin]

Robert writes (Sent: Friday, November 17, 2006 9:39 AM)

> On 11/17/06, Keith Henson wrote:

> > Wars were the evolved hunter gatherer mechanism
> > for keeping the human population in bounds that
> > could be supported by the ecosystem. 

I think that Keith has a very good, but hardly unique, 
description of the basic process. I'm conjecturing that
no description so far postulated here, however, covers
all the known cases. For example, there are just too many
damn wars in which population pressure was not a cause.

Robert says

> Keith, I think the evidence for prehistoric "population control"
> were slim to none.  As the dominant and migratory population
> in ancient times if humans exhausted the local resources they
> just got up and migrated (which is why we are all over the
> planet).

This doesn't seem to be true in all cases. I can easily exhibit
many cases that do conform to Keith's postulated mechanism.

> Wars are more fundamentally about spreading ones genes.

And so you have a second description, which, again, I claim
is not comprehensive. Wars are not *fundamentally* about
anything, in my opinion.  (See below for my own suggestion.)

> You can cite everything from the current situation in the Sudan
> where the Arabs are specifically raping the non-Arab women...
> Another example: ... American Indians may have engaged in
> hunting parties for the purpose of capturing women.

This is indeed true.  But by no means was this always an
explanation, either proximal or distant.

> Wars are due to the desire to get resources to have more
> sex and produce more children thus spreading ones genes.

Yes, but your writing almost seems calculated to elicit demurs :-)
To say "desire" without using qualifications and explanations
is confusing.

Let me add this:  primates and other animals at an early stage
acquired mutations for aggressive behavior. Under the majority
of circumstances this resulted in wider dispersal of genes.
For example, tribes, nations, and other social groups that can
utilized some means to spread at the expense of other groups
have an obvious Darwinian advantage.  In other circumstances
memes arise which inhibit aggression, and there are cases where
*this* is what best spreads the genes (e.g. large Quaker families).

Lee