> > > Don't see where political correctness came into this equation... > > > Nobody knows if humans were more or less nasty than neanderthals. > > > What we know is that modern humans go homicidal over mere tribal > > > differences, have an excellent record of eliminating competitors on > > > their level in the food chain, and possible predators as well. To > > > assume that they somehow did away with the neanderthals in a... > > > hmmm... less than including way... is just a pragmatic approach. If > > > that's politics for you, well then it must be the oldest political > > > direction in human history... :-) > > > > > > > I think you just described the Great Apes in general. > > > > < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eubDSQrFako >
Actually, responding to my own post, it's not just bonobos that are the exception among the great apes. Violence as a whole is the exception among great apes. Gorillas, bonobos, orang utans are not violent and they do not go around eliminating competitors. Among common chimpanzees there have been 'wars' between groups, but even these appear to be the exception. I don't think there is much evidence to support the idea that modern humans are genetically determined to be homicidal maniacs eliminating all competition - I think that the type of violence described above is a result of cultural factors arising from the adoption of agriculture as our principle way of making a living. Bob -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
