Hubris, Warriors and Evolution

摘要

In the late 20th century man's creativity has blossomed. Nanotechnology, biotechnology and other fields reshape microbes, man and the environment. Robots will soon follow. However, genocide still reigns. How can such contradiction, such brilliance and madness, be embodied in man. To unveil man is to understand a paradox of innovation and murder; to envision how nature brought about change in man is to fathom evolution; and, to understand adaptive change is to see man as a patchwork of evolutionary effects. This paper shows that emotions, brains, men, and armies are linked complex adaptive systems. It describes how emotions underpin a Risk Contract of War' that allowed war to become an adaptive evolutionary strategy with significant current and future human implications. Hubris and warriors are shown to be emotional and physical evolutionary products still present in man; and therefore, the strategic battleground extends backwards from technology to man's psychological and emotional roots - remains a Clausewitzian clash of wills.