From bloody wars whose origins go back centuries, to fights between the marketing and product development departments, conflict has seemingly been with us for ever. Some make powerful cases that, despite appearances, from a historical perspective, the level of conflict (and most other bad things) is actually reducing (e.g., Steven Pinker in The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined). Others, see us on a trajectory to mass destruction as the post World War II settlement unravels.
But what does our biology have to say about it and why does this matter?
‘Pessimists’ point out that conflict and hostility is a fundamental part of the fabric of our lives. Afterall, you only need to look at our closest relatives – those aggressive and brutish Chimpanzees which share 98.8% of our DNA – to see that violence is literally in our genes. And, anyway, survival of the fittest is the dominant force throughout the natural world.
‘Optimists’, on the other hand, prefer to point to the less well-known, peace-loving and cooperative Bonobo, which comes in just behind in the DNA similarity race at an all but indistinguishable 98.7%. Here, human conflict in its modern form is seen primarily as a result of moving away from the more egalitarian and harmonious heritage of hunter gatherers. And, if you want to find cooperation in nature, just look at bees and insects. In fact, while you’re at it, all material ‘cooperates’, as particles join together to become atoms, atoms become molecules, molecules become cells, cells become organisms, etc., etc.
So, whether you are a chimp or a bonobo fan, what lessons and examples you draw from nature often depends more on the point you are trying to make rather than an ‘objective’ appraisal. And we do not need to look too far back in history to see the tragic outcomes when biology and ideology become entangled.
But, while being fully aware of the mine-field I am about to walk into, I nevertheless do want to make two claims about our biology and why it holds many of the keys to solving the vast array of challenges that humanity faces right now.
The first one is that we are, indeed, biological living organisms. This should not be too controversial (trying cutting yourself with a sharp knife and see if you bleed), but unfortunately it is. Indeed, it goes to the heart of our identity, as many religions and related beliefs explicitly reject the notion that we are ‘merely’ part of nature, rather holding onto the core assumption that ‘spirit and mind’ are made of something entirely different to boring old matter. Here, evolution, if it is entertained or thought about at all, is seen as an add-on to be incorporated into existing belief systems rather than as a fundamental explanation as to how we ended up here (Interestingly, in the US, at least, Buddhists and Hindus are much more likely to accept evolution than Christians or Muslims).
Some might see such discussions as a bit philosophically abstract in a time of upheaval and when we are crying out for solutions to pressing problems. I beg to differ. The fact that ALL life (you, me, your pot plant, whales, trees, bacteria) shares a single-celled Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) from almost four billion years ago is awe inspiring.
Our modern human brains – the cause of our misery and joy, our triumphs and destruction, our promotions and our pension schemes, our five year strategic plans and cat videos) did not just appear from nowhere or get inserted into our bodies; it is a vanishingly rare neuroscientist who will claim that there really is a ‘ghost in the machine’.
Rather, our brains and modern minds have evolved over vast, vast periods of time, as evolutions selects, modifies and repurposes existing biological material and functions. It is a truly astonishing story, painstakingly put together over centuries of observation, ideas and modifications. It is also about as far removed from a dry ‘reductionist’ science as you could possibly imagine. (See, for example, Antonio Damasio Self-Comes to Mind: Constructing The Conscious Brain or The Deep History of Ourselves: The Four-Billion Year Story Of How We Got Conscious Brains by Joseph LeDoux).
As Mark Twain said, truth really is stranger than fiction: although our day-to-day experience might seem otherwise, our brains – and the minds they produce – really are biological organisms, subject to the same laws of nature as our kneecaps and our livers. The fact that our brains are astonishingly and magnificently complex doesn’t take them out of the natural world, but rather demonstrates just what nature can produce. Or, as the maxim, known to biologists as Orgel’s Second Rule, goes to those who doubt its power: “evolution is cleverer than you are”.
Does that mean we understand everything about our brain and biology? Far, far from it. Will we ever? Who knows. Probably not. But what we do know is that life is fundamentally and irrevocably connected at all levels. By understanding and appreciating this, we can begin to work with or ‘hack into’ the material we have got – our biology – in new ways. We can use our biology to literally change our minds. But that’s for another time.
So what has all of this got to do with conflict reduction?
Well, apart from the compelling narrative of the deep interconnectedness of life, it also puts agency back into our hands. That is, where we want to go, individually and collectively, becomes a ‘choice’ rather than an inevitable destination determined by our biological drivers (e.g., genes, instincts) or dependent upon non-material forces and beliefs. It does not matter whether we are seeking to reduce our stress and anxiety, develop a human rights campaign or research cellular evolution, it really does all happen in our (biological) brains. And these brains are part of– not connected to – us, the biological organism. Our minds and the choices we make have not replaced our biology; they have evolved from it.
But there is a second, more mundane, part of our biology that demonstrates much of the above: Oxytocin, otherwise known as the Love Drug. It is well know that this powerful (biological, evolutionarily selected) hormone cements bonding between mother and newborn. This has obvious advantages for the survival of a species. While it is also found in all mammals, but is part of an ancient group of chemicals found throughout the animal kingdom. But as well as strengthening the bond between mother and child, it also boosts relationships more generally. Other studies show that people donate more money to charity (become more generous) when they are exposed to Oxytocin.
So rather than embarking on complex peace-building processes, why not simply get all warring-factions together in a room and just waft it through the air-conditioning?
Well, there’s a problem.
In building the bonds of ‘Us-ness’, it necessarily sharpens the pre-existing difference with those who are, by definition, ‘Not Us’ (‘Thems’). And, as Robert Sapolsky, author of Behave: The Biology Of Humans At Our Best And Worst, points out, the origin of ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ was normally other groups; translate that into a modern day society and racism is not far from the surface. Or any other type of difference you might choose to identify with.
Yes. Biologically, humans are extremely sociable, as in they can cooperate with and make sacrifices on behalf of one another. But this cooperation can also leveraged to work together to kill others who we would prefer to defeat or exterminate. So the question is not really whether or not we are social creatures; we clearly are and our brains are very much wired for this. But rather, whether we are pro-social creatures and to whom? And here is the great thing: our specie’s culturally evolved minds mean that we get to choose. While we have to work with what we’ve got, we are no longer mere slaves to our ancient biological heritage. We more or less get to choose which groups we identify with in a way our ancestors (human and otherwise) simply didn’t.
Individually and collectively, a good first step if we want to reduce conflict is to acknowledge that we are biological creatures. And clearly understanding – and hopefully reassessing and widening – who is an ‘Us’ is critical. This is important not just for conflict reduction, but for pretty much any type of social progress and democratic development. We can then start to understand and work with our fundamental drivers, allowing us to move beyond the zero sum game of ‘my narrative is bigger than yours’.
Embracing our biological nature might seem an odd-way to go in a time of technology and the development of Artificial Intelligence. But actually, developing our natural, biological intelligence is exactly what we need to do.
Viva La Evolution!
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