Journal article

Publication year: 2014

Pages: 359-377

Journal: Human Nature

Volume number: 25

Issue number: 3

ISSN: 1045-6767

eISSN: 1936-4776

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-014-9199-y

Publisher: Springer

Abstract: 
Building on and partially refining previous theoretical work, this paper presents an extended simulation model of ancestral warfare. This model (1) disentangles attack and defense, (2) tries to differentiate more strictly between selfish and altruistic efforts during war, (3) incorporates risk aversion and deterrence, and (4) pays special attention to the role of brutality. Modeling refinements and simulation results yield a differentiated picture of possible evolutionary dynamics. The main observations are: (a) Altruism in this model is more likely to evolve for defenses than for attacks. (b) Risk aversion, deterrence, and the interplay of migration levels and brutality can change evolutionary dynamics substantially. (c) Unexpectedly, one occasional simulation outcome is a dynamically stable state of "tolerated intergroup theft," raising the question as to whether corresponding patterns also exist in real intergroup conflicts. Finally, possible implications for theories of the coevolution of bellicosity and altruism in humans are discussed.

Harvard Citation style: Rusch, H. (2014) The Two Sides of Warfare An Extended Model of Altruistic Behavior in Ancestral Human Intergroup Conflict, Human Nature, 25(3), pp. 359-377. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-014-9199-y

APA Citation style: Rusch, H. (2014). The Two Sides of Warfare An Extended Model of Altruistic Behavior in Ancestral Human Intergroup Conflict. Human Nature. 25(3), 359-377. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-014-9199-y