Why We Hate (a theory)
My father was a paleontologist/anthropologist before going into medicine. He once told me about a problem inherent in political interaction. I don't mean "Democrats vs. Republicans" or even "American politics", or "formal politics". This applies to a greater or lesser extent in almost every occasion when two or more humans interact. Every time I turn on the news or talk radio I'm reminded of what he told me:
The first human remains date to around 130,000 years ago. At that time there were four hominid species: H. neanderthanensis, H. heidelbergensis, H. erecutus, and we the H. sapiens. H. sapiens had a large brain, the capacity for abstract planning, a penchant for developing tools and weapons, and a very unpleasant attitude toward "other" hominids: by 25,000BC ago only one hominid species remained - us. The fossil record shows a story which repeats all over the world: other hominids live in an area for a few thousand years, H. sapiens moves into the area, and the bones of the final generation of the previous hominids exhibit evidence of violent deaths such as skull and lower arm fractures. Sapiens could have just as easily lived in peace with our fellow bipeds but for 100,000 years we didn't - with spears and clubs our species exterminated three entire hominid species which is how we gained peace, prosperity, and dominance of the planet.
Our species still has a large brain, we still have a capacity for abstract planning and we still have a penchant for tool-making and tool-using. But along with these inclinations, buried deep under our culture and civility we still have the same temperament toward 'others'. Something deep within us still searches for groups of rival hominids to identify and wipe out before they wipe us out. We turn on each other. Republicans vs. Democrats. Christians vs. Jews vs. Muslims. Africans vs. Americans. Irish vs. English. Sunnis vs. Shia vs. Kurds. Europeans vs. Turks/Gypsies. Harley riders vs. Jap Bike Riders. Raiders vs. Niners. "Burners who get it" vs. "weekend frat boy yahoos". The inclination to divide, polarize, identify an "us" and a "them" and attack "them" is still within us. I've never seen a community so united that, when left on its own for a long enough period of time, did not divide itself into warring factions of 'others'.
What's to be done? Can anything be done? Assuming not only that Dad's theory is correct but that the rest of society is comfortable with embracing eugenics I suppose we could try to breed the temperment out H. erectus like breeding ferocity out of dogs, but would we survive? Or, like H. neanderthalensis, would we be wiped out by the tribes who escaped our genetic reeducation?
Update: Dad may have been recounting the killer ape theory of Robert Ardrey, which was popular in the 1970s.
The first human remains date to around 130,000 years ago. At that time there were four hominid species: H. neanderthanensis, H. heidelbergensis, H. erecutus, and we the H. sapiens. H. sapiens had a large brain, the capacity for abstract planning, a penchant for developing tools and weapons, and a very unpleasant attitude toward "other" hominids: by 25,000BC ago only one hominid species remained - us. The fossil record shows a story which repeats all over the world: other hominids live in an area for a few thousand years, H. sapiens moves into the area, and the bones of the final generation of the previous hominids exhibit evidence of violent deaths such as skull and lower arm fractures. Sapiens could have just as easily lived in peace with our fellow bipeds but for 100,000 years we didn't - with spears and clubs our species exterminated three entire hominid species which is how we gained peace, prosperity, and dominance of the planet.
Our species still has a large brain, we still have a capacity for abstract planning and we still have a penchant for tool-making and tool-using. But along with these inclinations, buried deep under our culture and civility we still have the same temperament toward 'others'. Something deep within us still searches for groups of rival hominids to identify and wipe out before they wipe us out. We turn on each other. Republicans vs. Democrats. Christians vs. Jews vs. Muslims. Africans vs. Americans. Irish vs. English. Sunnis vs. Shia vs. Kurds. Europeans vs. Turks/Gypsies. Harley riders vs. Jap Bike Riders. Raiders vs. Niners. "Burners who get it" vs. "weekend frat boy yahoos". The inclination to divide, polarize, identify an "us" and a "them" and attack "them" is still within us. I've never seen a community so united that, when left on its own for a long enough period of time, did not divide itself into warring factions of 'others'.
What's to be done? Can anything be done? Assuming not only that Dad's theory is correct but that the rest of society is comfortable with embracing eugenics I suppose we could try to breed the temperment out H. erectus like breeding ferocity out of dogs, but would we survive? Or, like H. neanderthalensis, would we be wiped out by the tribes who escaped our genetic reeducation?
Update: Dad may have been recounting the killer ape theory of Robert Ardrey, which was popular in the 1970s.