Is war inevitable? Debate rages among anthropologists

War is not an inevitable feature of society, according to two scientists who analyzed acts of aggression in 21 hunter-gatherer societies.

Among people who live today most like our ancestors did long ago, most acts of murder occur as a result of individual conflicts rather than as part of major battle-style events, the researchers report in the journal Science. That would suggests that war is an artifice of society, and not an intrinsic feature of human nature.

It’s a hopeful message, but one that has met with strong criticisms from a community of anthropologists who have long debated whether warfare has an extensive evolutionary history with roots embedded in the structure of our brains, or whether war is a response to more recent developments in how societies are structured.

Read the arguments here:
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/war-i...sts-6C10680040

It is a very interesting question.

The researchers here claim that violence is on an individual basis, based on their findings.

Critics claim that you cannot prove that on those findings " you just do not know." Nevertheless I note that the war is intrinsic in human nature school place their proof on the same findings - If I understand it correctly.

“It’s clear that warfare occurs very commonly wherever there are people, but it doesn’t always occur. If we can find why people are less likely to go to war in some instances, then we’ll be doing something useful. I think it’s a very optimistic way of going forward.”

So - is war inevitable?