August 6, 2014--The Nature of Human Nature

"I know the answer," Rona said, "But still it upsets me when I think about how peaceful mornings are here--how there is nothing but the sun over the bay and the sounds of the tide rushing--while in so many other parts of the world the day begins with terror and violence. Like, right now, in the Middle East, Gaza, and Israel. I know, I know . . ." she trailed off.

"More evidence of how life is unfair and how fortunate and blessed we are," I offered, "And not just us. At the risk of sounding like a chauvinist pollyanna, no matter one's circumstances in America, things are so much better for virtually everyone."

"It's not only about unfairness. If it were, at least theoretically, something could be done about it. To bring about more fairness and peace. But . . ." she drifted off again not knowing what to make of this or how to reconcile her place on the fortunate side of things.

"So what else is involved that clearly has you upset?" I asked, thinking it would be better to try to talk about this than find a way to change the subject.

"Why all the violence? So much of it seeming to be for its own sake. And often brutally excessive. Way beyond what is required to protect oneself, one's family, or even one's nation."

"I have a theory."

"I hope it has a happy ending because I'm feeling terrible about the world's current circumstances."

"I'm not sure about that. It's too soon to know how things will turn out."

"Tell me anyway."

"It's about human evolution."

"Oh that, but, please, go on."

"Humans, homo sapiens, emerged about 200,000 years ago. In geological and biological terms, not very long ago. And for about the next 193,000 years we lived tribally, nomadically widely dispersed across Africa, what is now the Middle East, and also into today's Asia and Europe. We were mainly hunters and gatherers and men--and I mean men--needed to be able to protect themselves from dangerous beasts and other tribes who threatened their territory. It was raw, 'red-in-tooth-and-claw' survival of the fittest. A dangerous time that rewarded the most successfully aggressive and violent."

"I know all this," she was impatient with me, "So according to you what happened next?"

"It wasn't until about 7,000 years ago that the first city was established, when humans learned how to grow and cultivate crops and raise domestic animals so they they could gather in one place and no longer need to live as nomads."

"Ironically, the first cities, true, were in the same region where today there is so much warfare and violence."

"Yes," I said, "Arguably the first was Uruk in Babylonia, present-day Iraq, along the Euphrates. Between 5,000 and 3,000 BC up to 80,000 peopled lived there but, in evolutionary terms, these first city dwellers were very much like their hunter-gather ancestors. Just as aggressive, just as potentially violent."

"I sense where you're going with this."

"That was only 7,000 years ago. A very brief moment in time in the history of life. Living in settled communities and cities soon did not require the same human capacity and propensity for aggression and violence that our distant ancestors needed for survival.

"And, here's the heart of the problem," I continued my little lecture,"over the next seven millennia, until today, social evolution outpaced biological evolution so that while current homo sapiens are still biologically very much like our more ancient relatives, the way we live has changed dramatically. And making it worse, military technology has also evolved at a very rapid pace, far outstripping our basic self-protection needs. This make things infinitely more dangerous."

"By your theory, then, we no longer need to be so violent. We have culture and law and religions and governments and codes of behavior that would allow us to live more peacefully if we weren't still so bound and driven by our early-human DNA. And don't some researchers say that man, humans, have what they loosely call the 'benevolence gene'?"

"Exactly. But that propensity for generosity and even self-sacrifice is still overwhelmed by the aggressive ones that were so necessary long ago."

"So, in your view, what's going to happen?"

"I hope there will be enough change in our biological makeup over the next hundred years so we don't, while waiting for that, destroy the human race."

"Are you optimistic?" Rona asked.

"Look as those clouds," I said. "What a beautiful and peaceful place this is. Aren't we fortunate."

Rona knew that I wanted to change the subject. And let me.