|
CreamSoda52 -> RE: The human species and violence (10/2/2016 5:05:13 PM)
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: vincentML
I also have that impression. The methodology seems flawed. How can the researchers distinguish between fatalities and murders? A lot of judgments there without benefit of coroners' reports.
Scientists analyzed more than one thousand previous studies that referred to over one thousand different mammal species. They particularly investigated causes of death. Then, the researchers compared the number of fatalities related to murder.
This is a study of studies so there are layers of judgments involved. Not very scientific.
It is hard enough to nail down the genetic causes of physical illnesses let alone of human behaviors. There is a big early experiential component in human behaviors.
Nope. I don't buy the premise of this thread.
That's what's known as a meta-analysis, and in theory the conclusion should be as reliable as those of the individual studies. I don't know how meta-analyses are typically regarded by the scientific community, but they are fairly common, so it's not as if the researchers are just trying to cheese their way into a scientific journal without doing actual work.
However I agree with your conclusion: a statistical comparison of animal behaviors is weak evidence for a genetic predisposition for violence, especially since our lifestyles are so very different from that of any other animal and there are numerous other factors that contribute. We have long lives, and we often reach the end of our natural lifespan without suffering from random natural fatalities thanks to control over fatal diseases, an abundance of food, and basically nonexistent predation. We're a social species and spend our entire lives in close proximity to other people, while at the same time being incredibly diverse and widespread. Then there's our capacity for large-scale warfare...
I don't necessarily doubt that we might have a predisposition towards violence, I just don't think this study is conclusive. Either way though, I don't know why people have to try to extract some deep philosophical or moral meaning from this. We are whatever we are -- understanding what that is doesn't change it, but it does help us address our problems and give us some agency over this bleak future of total extinction that doomsayers love to forecast.
|
|
|
|
