No More War

Something I found very useful for discussing about nonviolence is the statement made by nineteen scientists from all around the globe in 1989. While partly being criticized for being moralistic, it is a source of inspiration and hope, to overcome the belief, that mankind is doomed biologically to wage wars and kill each other and this planet. I will go through the text and make some personal comments and remarks Feel free, to write comments as well!

IT IS SCIENTIFICALLY INCORRECT to say that we have inherited a tendency to make war from our animal ancestors. Although fighting occurs widely throughout animal species, only a few cases of destructive intra-species fighting between organized groups have ever been reported among naturally living species, and none of these involve the use of tools designed to be weapons. Normal predatory feeding upon other species cannot be equated with intra-species violence. Warfare is a peculiarly human phenomenon and does not occur in other animals.

The fact that warfare has changed so radically overtime indicates that it is a product of culture. Its biological connection is primarily through language which makes possible the co-ordination of groups, the transmission of technology, and the use of tools. War is biologically possible, but it is not inevitable, as evidenced by its variation in occurrence and nature over time and space. There are cultures which have not engaged in war for centuries, and there are cultures which have engaged in war frequently at some times and not at others.

As the authors note, there have been observations of ape-species groups killing each other but that

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