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Re: Is Humanity Inherently Violent?
John Wilkins, Manager, Publishing (john.wilkins@udev.monash.edu.au)
Thu, 12 May 1994 09:33:34 +1000
In article <1994May9.233214.15549@nicad3.nic.bc.ca>,
raftery@nicad3.nic.bc.ca wrote:
> In article <1994May4.111426.1@clstac>, bpwarner@csupomona.edu writes:
> >
> > I would like to pose a question to this newsgroup...
> > Is humankind inherently non-violent and/or non-agressive?
> >
[deletia]
> You're reviving the old argument between Lewis Leakey and
> Raymond Dart about the origins of man's social behaviour!
> I think that's a lot more promising as a subject than AAH.
> Richard Leakey's "People of the Lake" (about his studies
> of the site at lake Turkana) argues that cooperation as
> a human ethic MUST antedate competition. Let's hear more..
Why must cooperation or competition antedate each other at all? Eg, which
came first: heart or liver? Surely traits can codevelop, as can behavioural
patterns. In fact, I strongly suspect that the axis compete<-->cooperate
represents a possibility space for a mixed strategy population, so that
cooperation and competition will coexist anyway. Why must humans "be"
violent or non-violent, any moer than they must "be" carnivores or
herbivores?
--
John Wilkins - Manager, Publishing, Monash University,
Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria 3168 [Melbourne] Australia
Internet: john.wilkins@udev.monash.edu.au
Tel: (+613) 905 6009; fax: 905 6029
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