Evolution is an important aspect of our understanding of biology and has been a useful tool for explaining complex traits and survival strategies in many species. In recent years, scientists have begun applying evolutionary logic to humans as well, bringing with it controversial insight and opinions of our own behavior. José Maria Gómez, a evolutionary biologist, has taken this to the extreme by researching the evolution of lethal violence in humans and other species.
Violence within a species is quite common in nature, initial studies he conducted upon mammals showed that 40% of observed species demonstrated violence towards their own species. Gómez decided to elaborate on these initial studies by applying this outlook on violence to humans. Delving through archaeological databases, Gómez attempted to quantify the rate of human on human violence over the course of our species’ time on earth. He concluded that the rate of lethal violence caused by humans was an average of 2% over the course of documented history. This seems to be a pretty small value, however when considering its relation to closely related primates, the research takes an interesting turn. Bonobo monkeys (one of the other species Gómez studied) demonstrated a violence rate of 0.68%, notably lower than that of humans. However, Chimpanzees (our closest relative) were calculated to have a lethal violence rate of 4.5%, a rate 2.5 times that of our own. I had always assumed that humans were the most bloodthirsty species on the planet, but Gómez’s research seeks to prove otherwise.
Though our violence has fluctuated over time, Gómez proposes that the modern rate of violence is even lower than previous periods of human history, with a measured value of 1.3%. When considering wars, it is interesting to consider the parallels between humans and chimpanzees and the social dynamics that lead to these observed violence rates that are fair larger than most other species. Has recent evolution driven us towards violence or farther away? What is the relationship between genetic and societal determinants of behavior? Though this study answered none of the plethora of questions regarding an explanation of human violence, it has at least brought some quantitative insight into the topic that will hopefully kickstart additional research.
Critics of the study note that these measurements do not account for different types of violence and that this is difficult to accurately assess from a prehistoric perspective. I agree with the sentiment that the current data is not entirely reliable, though I do think that it is intriguing that the proposed rates of chimpanzees and humans are so close. I had always assumed that our species was the most murderous and violent, and it will be interesting to see what future research uncovers about the evolutionary trend of violence in our species. General statistics like the ones analyzed in Gómez’s study are certainly not the answer. Unable to factor in additional variables and degrees of the violence, percent rates will not help us to understand our relationship with chimpanzees any better, however I do believe it has opened the door to continued research into our own speciation and the evolutionary impact violence may have had on our development.
Harris Jackson (Week 1)
Source:
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/09/why-do-we-kill-controversial-study-blames-our-distant-ancestors 
I'm extremely interested in the social dynamics you mentioned that contribute to our historically low violence rate within our species. I would say that socially looking down of violence is the most important factor in this percentage decrease. I also speculate that as we evolve more as an extremely social species and great inter-species communication, we can drive these numbers even lower.
ReplyDelete- Rund Tawfiq (3)
I agree, I think it is very intriguing to look at the relationship between biological and social evolution and how that can affect a species over time. For most animals, you generally only consider the biological motives, but with humans (and maybe a few other species) there is added complexity from the more advanced social dynamics. It is interesting that though we have lower violence than chimpanzees, we still have higher violence then all the other studied mammals, though as I mentioned in the post this data is not entirely reliable, it is still very fascinating.
DeleteHarris Jackson (1)
As humans, we tend to categorize things and see differences more than similarities. But at the end of the end, we're all humans beings, we're all the same species. Although compared to other species, humans have a relatively low violence rate, it's upsetting to think that we can do so much harm to each other. I wonder if there are species that have a 0% rate of violence towards its own. Or what the lowest is. Do you have any thoughts? Domestic animals would seem to have low rates, but I wonder about wild animals in their natural habitats.
ReplyDelete- Angelina Weng (3)
I guess it all boils down to natural selection. So many species compete for mates and resources and that competition is almost always violent in some way. So I think that evolutionarily there is no reason for the animals to not be violent to animals within their own species if this can contribute to their own gain. Domestic animals certainly seem to be the exception, and it makes me wonder about human social dynamics and whether our social pressures have outweighed our biological ones.
DeleteHarris Jackson (1)
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