Research on Nonwarring Societies Makes News
Nonkilling Anthropology Research Committee member Douglas P. Fry and college Patrik Söderberg have recently hit the news after publication on the July 19 of Science journal of a groundbreaking article on the nonwarring nature of early human societies. The findings of the article have echoed in the media, including featured pieces in The Economist or New Scientist and wide social network attention globally. Challenging the frequently assumed notion of extensive warfare among forager band societies, the authors provide firm data that excludes war from the everyday reality of our ancestors.
The findings of this article can be complemented by previous contributions to nonkilling research by Douglas P. Fry and other colleagues, including chapters “Natural Born Nonkillers” in Nonkilling Societies or “Nonkilling as an Evolutionary Adaptation” in in Nonkilling Psychology, both available for free download at the CGNK books section. The recently published collective volume War, Peace, and Human Nature: The Convergence of Evolutionary and Cultural Views (Oxford University Press, 2013), edited by Douglas Fry, also provides additional clues to approach the debate on human warfare as an ancient evolutionary adaptation or a relatively recent behavior.
