Word: alland
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...game hunting with females at home minding the kids and gathering vegetables...and a particular emphasis on warfare and the salutary advantages of genocide. But these arguments have arisen before and have been strongly rebutted both on the basis of historical and anthropological studies. (See for instance A. Alland, The Human Imperative or M.F.A. Montagu, Man and Agression...
...seem to arise from an inner, unalterable genetic program. Instead, it is generated by external situations and is released only through socially approved channels. Initially, Abron children are indulged and fondled by all the adults around them and show no aggression-until a new child is born. Then, Alland writes, having been abruptly displaced from center stage, "most babies who have been quite placid up to this point begin to show signs of rage and aggression." This new behavior is severely punished, however, so that the children learn to control their anger. As a result, Abron adults are rarely aggressive...
...notion that man's primary motivation stems from a biological urge to defend whatever area he regards as his-also get their comeuppance. Like aggression, territoriality can be proved natural for man only if it is universal, automatic and "imperative," as Ardrey would have it. In fact, says Alland, it is none of these, not even in the most primitive societies...
...peoples who live by hunting animals and gathering wild plant foods, "are the least territorial of all human groups." Furthermore, in Africa "there are innumerable situations in which peoples of different ethnic backgrounds live together in the same territory, often exploiting the environment in different ways." In fact, says Alland, territoriality is not inborn but is actually determined by the culture; he notes that most nations need such external reinforcers as the pledge to the flag and draft laws to ensure that national territory will have sufficient defenders...
...Alland's most significant conclusion is that neither territoriality nor aggression is instinctive; thus war is not inevitable. "Culture is the major determinant in human existence," he says. For that reason, the "human imperative" is to develop a kind of culture in which war is impossible...