SFI Professor Sam Bowles in a Montreal Gazette article delves into the evolution of cooperation, suggesting that factions of cooperative humans might have out-evolved warrior factions.
At some point in human history the strategy of murdering for territory and dominance was eclipsed by another strategy, the article says. “According to one theory, two factions emerged: One was the warriors. The other faction worked through cooperation, fostering kindness, peace and security. Human cooperation created the greatest boom the world has ever seen, giving birth to farms, cities and civilization, according to Samuel Bowles, a behavioral scientist at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico. It's possible that warriors were put at evolutionary disadvantage. If you go around killing, sooner or later someone will kill you. That means you won't pass on your genes or you won't be around to raise your kids.”
Read the article
Watch videos of Sam Bowles' August 2009 SFI Ulam Lectures on cooperation:
Lecture 1: A Cooperative Species (or are we just afraid someone may be looking?)
Lecture 2: Altruism, Parochialism, and War: Rambo Meets Mother Teresa
Lecture 3: Machiavelli?s Mistake: Why Policies Designed for ?Wicked Men? Fail