[extropy-chat] Back to Causes of War

[Lee Corbin]

Keith writes in a reply to BillK

>> > Even more significant (or so I think) is *anticipation* of bleak
>> > conditions.  My case for this is the logic of gene selection.  It would pay
>> > genes for the warriors to kill neighbors *before* they were gaunt and weak
>> > from hunger.
>>
>> Well, that pretty well covers all options.
>> Either:
>> 1)  the warrior group is suffering deprivation and this
>>      causes war. or,
>> 2) if they're not suffering deprivation, then they are
>>     probably worrying about possible future deprivation
>>     and this causes war.
>>
>> You do realize that this is a meaningless unfalsifiable argument?
> 
> No.  And there should be evidence.  You should see a drop in wars after a 
> major plagues because the drop in population should make for a brighter 
> (less economically stressed) future for those who are left.

I will try to check it out. Well documented causes exist for the 
wars between England and France that broke out in the 1300s.
The plague came later (1346) but I don't think slowed the war
any except for a bit of financial exhaustion among the rulers.
The 15th century was still very war-prone in Europe.

>> Selective political quotations can prove anything.
>> The Great Depression hit the USA far worse that Germany
> 
> Is that true?  I.e., can you cite the relative drops in GDP
> per capita for the US and Germany?

Yes, we should get to the bottom of that.

Lee

> One of the things I cited in my earliest memetics papers, long before I had 
> any thoughts on what might account for it, was the inverse relation between 
> US economic downturns and up ticks in neo nazi activities.