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Chapter 2: Are Humans Inherently Violent?. Anthropology Explored. Demonic Males. Until the recent book by Richard Wrangham and Dale Peterson, Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence , scholars tended to view violence as being unique to humans .
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Chapter 2: Are Humans Inherently Violent? Anthropology Explored
Demonic Males • Until the recent book by Richard Wrangham and Dale Peterson, Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence, scholars tended to view violence as being unique to humans. • Raymond Dart, Sherwood Washburn, Robert Ardrey, and E.O. Wilson all have argued that violence was inherited from prehominidancestors • While other anthropologists have suggested that human violence is the product of our society and environment.
Demonic Males • Demonic Males offered the theory that a propensity to kill was actually inherited from chimpanzees. • Wranghamand Dale asserted that humans split from chimpanzees 6 to 8 million years ago (mya) • And that chimps and bonobos split around 2.5 mya. • Wranghamand Peterson have offered the chimps as good models for prehominids.
Large-Brained Ancestors • When the fossils of our “large-brained”ancestors from Piltdown, England were discovered to be frauds in the early 1950’s • It became accepted that our ancestors were more ape- like than human. • Raymond Dart, discoverer of the first australopithecine fossils, suggested that the australopithecines were scavengers in a savanna environment.
Large-Brained Ancestors • The fossils, especially skulls, which he had discovered, however, had dents and holes • Eventually leading him to conclude that the australopithecines hunted for food, and fought amongst each other.
“Man the Hunter” • In 1968, Man the Hunter was published by Sherwood Washburn and Chet Lancaster. • This book suggested that it is the behavior of hunting which has shaped human nature and differentiated humans from other primates.
“Man the Hunter” Criticism • Sussman criticizes this theory because he claims that the authors did not gather their data from modern hunter-gatherers • But instead employed the nineteenth century concept of cultural “survivals,” manners which existed in earlier times but are no longer present.
“Man the Hunter” Criticism • The author goes on to ridicule the theory discussed in Man the Hunter by saying that dancing could just as well replace hunting as separating humans from primates.
Hominids Common Traits • Later, in the mid-1970s, E.O. Wilson suggested that there are certain traits that are true for all humans: a) Territoriality b) Male-female bonds c) Male dominance over females d) And extended maternal care.
Hominids Common Traits • Wilson saw these traits as also being present in primates; • However, Sussman claims to have disproved this theory elsewhere.
Socio-biological Theory • Wilson offered a theory of sociobiology which asserted that organisms live in order to reproduce • And that an organism will cooperate with others only if they share common genes, as in kin selection • Or if the others might offer aid to the organism at some later date, as in reciprocal altruism.
Socio-biological Theory • The author, however, states that evidence found in modern hunter-gather societies shows that they are generally non-aggressive. • He claims that the holes in the skulls discovered by Dart were, in fact, made by animals • Proving that humans were the hunted, not the hunters.
Demonic Males • Demonic Males asked the question, are humans violent as a result of our genetic code, and, if so, can such violence be overcome? • The authors, Wrangham and Peterson, state that the bonobo, closely related to the chimpanzee, is the opposite in disposition to the chimp, as bonobos are non-aggressive.
The Selfish Gene Hypothesis • Wrangham and Peterson suggest that the drive to kill is the result of something known as the “selfish gene.” • To them, the behavior evolved out of natural selection and efforts to survive. • They view humans and chimpanzees as having similar behaviors because they are more closely related than chimps are to gorillas.
The Selfish Gene • They assert that chimps serve as good models of our ancestors and retain some of their traits. • The author of this article discounts these assertions because the connection between gorillas, chimps, and humans is by no means clear • And the chimpanzee species has evolved over time just as humans have
The Selfish Gene • Wrangham and Peterson support their theory based on evidence of chimp behavior gathered by themselves, as well as by Jane Goodall. • However, in Jane Goodall’s experiments, chimps only began to demonstrate aggression when she employed “restrictive human-controlled” feeding.
The Selfish Gene • The author suggests this increase in feeding as one explanation for the violent behavior seen in the chimps, rather than a genetic explanation. • He claims that our behavior is decided by socialization practices and human history, not by human nature.
“Coalitionary Killings Hypothesis” • In his update, the author mentions that Wrangham addressed the author’s criticisms of his theory. • Wranghamclaimed that there were 10 instances of chimpanzees killing and 10 disappearances of chimpanzees. • Wranghamequates war in humans and deadly attacks in chimpanzees as “coalitionary killing.”
“Coalitionary Killings Hypothesis” • This is an unusual phenomenon in animals, being more common in social insects and social carnivores. • Wranghambelieves that it occurs in chimpanzees and humans because of an imbalance of power, rivalries, and drive.
“Coalitionary Killings” • The author views the theory of coalitionary killing as problematic and does not see the connections that Wrangham makes between the killing of chimps and that of ants. • The author also states that if an imbalance of power was a factor then there would be more evidence of killings. • The term “drive” could have a variety of meanings and implications, one more of the many problems Sussman has with this theory.
