Human Evolution and Male Aggression: Debunking the Myth of Man a ...

of high school friends, most were drafted or signed up (one came home in a box), one was a “conscientious objector” who did equal time in an alternative service, and I immigrated to Canada. Although these decisions had more to do with an understanding of international politics and personal ethics than with aggression per se, they do bring up two important questions: If, as I believe, men are inherently peaceful, why do some people attack other men or women? Why do people band together to go to war? This book does not answer these questions, but it does provide a foundation for understanding the diversity of male aggressive behavior in primates and its evolutionary basis—or rather, the lack thereof—in humans.