Impact of modern civilization on violence: positif or negatif?

Modern civilization doesn't diminish violence, study shows

Modern civilization may not have dulled humankind's bloodlust, but living in a large, organized society may increase the likelihood of surviving a war, a Florida State University anthropology professor said.

FSU Distinguished Research Professor of Anthropology Dean Falk and Charles Hildebolt, a professor from the Washington University Medical School in St. Louis, argue in a new edition of the journal Current Anthropology that while larger, modern-day societies may have a larger number of soldiers or combatants who die, they represent a smaller percent of the total population.

In addition, people who live in modern-day nations are not less violent than their ancestors or people who currently live in small-scale hunting, gathering and horticultural societies, Falk said.

"Rather than being more violent, people who live in small-scale societies are more vulnerable to a significant portion of their community being killed in warfare than those living in states because, as the old saying goes, 'there is safety in numbers,'" Falk said. "We recognize, of course, that people living in all types of societies have the potential not only for violence -- but also for peace."

Falk and Hildebolt found that war deaths for both small-scale and more modern state societies escalate upward with increasing population sizes. Part of that, they believe, is because of the innovations in weapons and military strategies associated with modern life. Read more...

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