http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAifu7lu8TU
A wide ranging interview of Jordan Peterson with one of the top anthropologists in the world, exploring the basis of some "oddities" in human behavior: in particular banding together with other males to form gangs and war parties.
tl; dr? We are most closely related to chimpanzees, the only other species which has males with the same behavior patterns. Skip to 16 minutes mark if you want to get to that meat....;->
Origin of war? 44 mins. (I suggest a few seconds before these points)
About 300k years ago, the "alpha male bully" started getting exterminated by social alliances. This "domestication" reduced "reactive aggression".
I'm adding to this as I proceed through the video. Around 1 hour (certainly by 1:10) they get into how chipanzee ancestors became involved with cooking (fire).
Why do I find this interesting? tl;dr: I think humans are in a bind where "we have become the tools of our tools" and, I think, are in a fatal bound...unless we escape our war-rationalizing and politician-following, non-conscious, tribal behavior.
FWIW, the last section of the interview, by 1:15, gets into the topic of the 3rd book by this anthropologist: the paradox between our warring nature (othering) and our altruistic nature. We're relatively elevated toward PLANNED aggression AND, yet, counterbalancing this, our elevation toward compassion/altruism. (my words)
About 300K years ago we see "reactive aggression" reduced in humanity. Likely because of language. How? alliances allowed groups to kill "alpha / bully males" . This also shows up in physiologic changes such as we see in other DOMESTICATION of "pets", including smaller size, smaller brain size (theorized to be unconcious/emotional areas of the brain being reduced) without any decrease in intelligence. 1:40 We are the self-domesticated species and, at the same, time the self-created dictators of morality.
THIS gives rise to current political and social systems.
FWIW, I bought the latest book
Demonic Males
Catching Fire
The Goodness Paradox.
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