ArcoBlood Mod Finished

[Arryn]

quantum_mechani said:
I think certain aspects could be the result of evolution. For instance, a small tribe/group where murder was rampant would not survive very long. While selfishness benefits an individual in the short term, in the long run groups with more cooperation would have worked better. Of course, you could argue it was a form of 'society' at work at that point too.

Well-reasoned, but slightly flawed. What actually happens is that the aggression is turned outwards towards other tribes. Evolution selects for the violent ones, as it is their genes that tend to survive while the "weak" get killed off by those more violent and capable, be it in a bid for power as to who'll rule the tribe, or when tribes war against one another.

It's true that cooperation is the better strategy, but it almost always takes a back seat to the exercise of sheer unbridled power. (The U.S. invasion of Iraq is the latest example of this, and on the largest possible scale. However noble the intentions may have been, and there's a lot of room to doubt even that, it was still morally wrong.) Historically, people have cooperated only so long as they are getting what they want. If they cannot, or cannot get it fast enough, they'll resort to violence in spite of what that violence may invoke in the way of repercussions. Criminals, dictators, and even some ostensibly-elected officials all do this.