5/2/2015

EBSCOhost

EBSCOPublishingCitationFormat:APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssoc.):
NOTE: Review the instructions at http://support.ebsco.com.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/help/?
int=ehost&lang=&feature_id=APA and make any necessary corrections before using. Pay special
attentiontopersonalnames,capitalization,anddates.Alwaysconsultyourlibraryresourcesfor
theexactformattingandpunctuationguidelines.

References
Tudge,C.(2002).NATURALBORNKILLERS.NewScientist,174(2342),36.
<!AdditionalInformation:
Persistent
link
to
this
record
http://search.ebscohost.com.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=a9h&AN=6728518&site=ehostlive
Endofcitation>

(Permalink):

NATURALBORNKILLERS
THEMAKINGSOFASUICIDEBOMBERLIEINTHEBIOLOGYTHATSHAPEDUSALL,
SAYSCOLINTUDGE
REVENGEmightmakeusfeelbetter,butintheenditisnotthepoint.Whatmattersistomake
the world safer, and for that we need some inkling of why people who are neither mad nor
stupid kill people they have never even met. We need a feel for the conditions that promote
suchbehaviourandthemindsetthatleadstoit.Inshort,weneedsomeinsightintothatelusive
qualityknownashumannature.
Butwhathasemergedmoststarklyfrom11Septemberisthatwehaven'taclueornone,at
least,thathasenabledtheworld'sleaderstoimproveonsimpleretaliation,whichmaybehigh
techinexecutionbutinstrategybelongstotheStoneAge.Toprobeourownnatureweshould
whereverpossiblebringsciencetobear,becauseitsideasaretestableandsocanbeworked
onandimproved.Withluck,itcanmoveusbeyondmereopinion.Oneobviousapproachisto
look at our own biology, for although we think of ourselves in ethereal termstheologians
speakofthesoul,andAristotledeclaredthatwearepoliticalanimalswearealsocreatures
ofbiology,evolvedlikeanyother,anditmustbesensibletoaskwhatthatimplies.Forthiswe
havetoturntothebranchofbiologyknownasevolutionarypsychology.
Mere biology would scarcely seem up to the task of explaining why young men and women
shouldsacrificetheirownlivesassuicidebombers.Theirbehaviourseemsbothshockingand
incomprehensible, a cue for politicians to rage about fanaticism and resurrect the cold war
conceptofbrainwashing.Yetthetermfanaticismtakenalonehasnoexplanatoryvalue,and
is often racist: the implication is that Muslims in general and Arabs in particular are prone to
suchbehaviour,togetherperhapswiththenorthernIrish.Thisbehaviour,it'simplied,isinnately
pathological,anddefiesunderstanding.Itcannotbeseenaspartofourevolvednature.
Can'tit?Awholenumberofcreaturesfromallsectionsofthephylogenetictree,includingmany
http://web.b.ebscohost.com.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/ehost/delivery?sid=c8fd6c7d9c6943159491e34b0cc7230d%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=107

1/5

5/2/2015

EBSCOhost

that have no brains to be washed and certainly follow no religion, are known to sacrifice
themselvesinallkindsofcircumstances.Thedrivingforcesareclearlygenetic,asitispossible
inprincipletoshowhowsuchbehavioursmayfollowMendelianpatternsofinheritance,andthe
underlyingreasonscanbeanalysedaccordingtotherulesofgametheory.
The ubiquitous gut bacterium Escherichia coli provides a case study (Selection, vol 1, p 51).
TwoscientistsatMichiganStateUniversity,RichardLenskiandGregVelicer,foundthatwhen
nutrients are in short supply, different strains of the bacterium engage in chemical warfare.
Individualswithineachstrainproducetoxinscalledcolicinsthatkillbacteriaofotherstrainsbut
nottheirown.Butthere'sasnag.Individualbacteriathatproducethetoxinkillthemselvesinthe
process, just as a honeybee does when it stings or, as Lenski and Velicer point out, like a
suicide bomber (and they wrote their paper well before September 2001). Selfsacrifice
makes evolutionary sense because the gene that promotes the behaviour is also contained
withinotherbacteriaofthesamegenotype.Allindividualsofagivengenotypewillcontainthe
colicingene,butonlyafewactuallyproducethetoxinandsosacrificethemselvesonbehalfof
theothers.Gametheoryanalysiscanshowwhatproportionwillemergeassuicidebombers.
Humans,ofcourse,arenotbacteria.Itwould,however,beasignificantmetaphysicalconceitto
supposethatwecanlearnnothingfromothercreatures.Wehavegenestoo,andtheyinfluence
our behaviour. The rules of genetics are universal, so the same broad forces that shape the
generalbehaviouralstrategiesofallcreaturesmustapplytoustoo.Specifically,broadbiological
principlestellusthat,whateverthespecies,itisnotsurprisingthatsomeindividualsinasociety
and not just those who are pathologically prone to fanaticismmight sacrifice themselves
fortherest.
Inourownspecies,suicidebombersandhijackerswillingtodieforthecausearemoreoften
youngmenratherthanwomen.Femalesuicidebombershaverecentlystruckseveraltimesin
Israel, and the Tamil Tigers, who have carried out many more suicide bombings than the
Palestinians,havealsoemployedwomenbombers,butyoungmalebombersareinthegreat
majority.Nooneissurprisedbythis,becauseamongallcategoriesofhumanbeingmaleand
female, young and oldit's young men who are the biggest risktakers, not just in matters of
physicalprowessbutinallaspectsoflife.
This tendency may well derive directly from reproductive physiology. Females who are fertile
andwanttohaveababyaregenerallyabletodoso.Malescaninprincipleimpregnateagreat
manymatesbutthisincreasesthecompetitionbetweenthem,sotheycaneasilyfinishupwith
no mates at all, and often do. Males can't be certain of reproducing without taking risks: they
cannotsimplywaitforamatetocall.Thosewhoriskallmightdieintheattempt,butthisisno
worsegeneticallyspeakingthansittingaroundanddyingchildlesstheymight,byriskingall,do
verywellindeed.Faintheartneverwonfairlady.
Youngmen'spropensityforriskiseasilyquantifiedinviolentcrime.Thusintheirclassicstudy
overseveraldecades,MartinDalyandMargoWilsonofMcMasterUniversityinOntarioshowed
that in all societies, young men commit the overwhelming majority of murders. Of course,
humanbehaviourisextremelyflexibleandtheenvironmenthasahugebearingonthelikelihood
thatanyoneperson,maleorfemale,youngorold,willcommitmurder.Morewomencommit
murderinPhiladelphiathanmendoinIceland.Setuptherightcomparisonandyoucanfinda
http://web.b.ebscohost.com.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/ehost/delivery?sid=c8fd6c7d9c6943159491e34b0cc7230d%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=107

2/5

5/2/2015

EBSCOhost

group of women who are more violent than a group of men. But still, male murderers in
PhiladelphiaoutstripPhiladelphia'swomenmurderersby100to1,andthesameratioofmento
womenisfoundinthePhilippines,andScotland,andDenmark,andindeedinIceland,although
thenumberofmurdersthereissosmallthatthestatisticshardlyregister.
Evolutionarypsychologistshavealsostudiedtheothersideofthecoin:notconflictandviolence,
but sociality. Not all creatures are social but those that are clearly benefit in many ways.
Common sense, observation and all manner of theories agree that sociality typically involves
somemeasureofunselfishness,andthisbydefinitionimpliesthatsocialityexactsaprice.The
various theories of altruism throw light on where unselfishness comes from. The late
evolutionarybiologistBillHamilton'snotionofkinselectionneatlyexplainedwhycreaturesare
liabletohelptheirownkin,evenatcosttothemselves,andforanycreatureitsimmediatekin
willinevitablyformasignificantpartofitssociety.HisideasweretakenfurtherbyBobTrivers,
ananthropologistatRutgersUniversityinNewJersey,toshowwhyevolutionmightalsofavour
individuals that help others they are not related to, in particular through reciprocal altruism:
onehelpsanotherinthehopeandexpectationthatatsometimethefavourwillbereturned.
Moreprogresshasbeenmadeonthebackofthesefundamentalideas.JohnMaynardSmith's
analysesofbehaviouralstrategythroughgametheory,developedattheUniversityofSussex,
areparticularlyimportant.HisworkshowsthatsocietieswhichappeartoprovidewhatJeremy
Benthamsometwocenturiesagocalledthegreatesthappinessforthegreatestnumbermay
notbeevolutionarilystable.Thussocietieswhichcontainonlyaltruisticdovesareaspeaceful
ascanbesincenobodywillfightanyoneelse.Butalldovesocietiesareliabletobeupsetby
somemutanthawkthatswaggersinandtakeseverythingwithoutopposition.Thehawkswill
thrive and multiply until there are so many that they start clashing with other hawks, which is
badnewsforthehawks.Sothehawksaremoreorlessboundtoappearamongsocietiesof
doves,buttheirownhawkishnessstopsthembecomingtoonumerous.
More generally, all societies require individuals to behave with some degree of altruism, and
thatinturnmeansthattheyareallatriskfromfreeloaderswhotakethegoodiesanddonothing
inreturn.Triverspredictedthatsocialcreaturesshouldbeadeptatdetectingcheatsandtakea
dimviewofthem.EvolutionarypsychologistsJohnToobyandLedaCosmidesoftheUniversity
of California, Santa Barbara, have tested this prediction in humans and so it turns out. In
laboratoryteststheyshowthatpeoplefindithardtodetectviolationsofanif/thenrulelaidout
in logic but can do so easily and accurately if the violation represents cheating in a social
situation.Theconclusionisthatourbrainshavespecificallyevolvedtospotcheating.Wehave
notsimplyevolvedageneralabilitytothinklogically.
The other side of this coin has been explored by Robert Frank of Cornell University among
others. In his books, including The WinnerTakeAll Society, he develops the notion that
humanshaveevolvedatremendouslystrongsenseofjustice.Ontheonehandweareacutely
awareofbeingdonedownontheotherwegotogreatlengthstoestablishourreputationsas
good,honestpeople.Inthis,wegofarbeyondwhatmightseemtobenecessary:forexample,
weleavetipsforwaitersinrestaurantswewillnevervisitagain,becausewecan'tstopproving
totheworldhowreliableweare.
Suchnotionscanbetestedindirectly.InSwitzerland,ErnstFehroftheUniversityofZurichand
http://web.b.ebscohost.com.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/ehost/delivery?sid=c8fd6c7d9c6943159491e34b0cc7230d%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=107

3/5

5/2/2015

EBSCOhost

SimonGachteroftheUniversityofStGallengavestudentsacooperativetaskoftheprisoner's
dilemma kind: all benefit if everyone plays honourably, but those who cheat benefit more
provided they don't get found out (New Scientist, 12 January, p 11). The students were
rewarded with real money if they did well and fined if they did not. They were also able to
punishfellowplayersbyimposingfinesbutonlybypayingapenaltythemselves,sothosewho
punished others a lot were liable to finish up with less money than those who punished very
little.Surprisinglythoughperhapsnotsosurprisingtothoseversedinevolutionarypsychology
thestudentstendedtopunishcheatsseverely,eventhoughtheylostoutbydoingso.People
seem to hate cheats so much that they are prepared to incur significant penalties to punish
them.Again,thistendencydoesnotseemconfinedtohumansitisnotjustapartofourown
specific cultural overlay. Jennifer Scott at the Wesleyan University in Connecticut has found
comparablebehaviouringorillas.Eventhealphamales,hugeanddominantthoughtheyare,
areliabletobegivenabadtimebytheirsubordinatesiftheyappeartobehaveunjustly.
One more line of thought, this time deriving from Darwin's idea of sexual selection, seems to
sewthesedisparateobservationsintoaneatstory.Darwinproposedthenotionthatselection
didnotactonlyoncharacteristicsthatmadecreaturesbetterabletosurvive,butalsoonthose
thatmadethembetterabletoattractmates.HisideaswereneglecteduntilAmotzZahavitook
themupinthe1970stoexplorewhyanimalsdoweirdandwonderfulthingsfortheoppositesex
thatarequiteuselessorevendamagingfordaytodaysurvival.Indeed,Zahaviproposedthat
matingdisplayswithfeathersandantlersandthunderousbassvoicesareimpressiveprecisely
becausetheyaresocostlyintimeandenergy.Itisasthoughtheanimalweresaying:What
wonderfulgenesImusthavetoabletodothisandsurvivetoo.
Geoffrey Miller, in The Mating Mind, suggests that all the greatest achievements of humans,
including fine art and music and the ability to do calculus and speculate on God, began as
displays of prowess. One way to stand out from the crowd is simply to be passionate, and
youngmenareparticularlypronetopassionindeed,DalyandWilsonhaveproposedthatthe
extremeviolencesooftenevidentinyoungmalescanbeconstruedasaformofshowingoff.
Soaswedrawtogetherthevariousthreadsofevolutionarypsychologyitbecomeseasytosee
how young men in particular want both to display their bravery, and are deeply offended by
injustice,andonbothcountsmayrisktheirownliveseventothepointofcertaindeath.When
these people are on our side we call them heroes and martyrs when they are not, we label
themterrorists.
Whatdoesallthisaddupto?Thegeneralcontributionofevolutionarypsychologysofaristo
suggestthatevenflyinganaeroplanefullofpassengersintoabuildingfullofordinarypeopleis
notbeyondhumanunderstanding.Itshouldnotbedescribedsimplyinthemystifyinglanguage
of psychopathology. It wastes everybody's time simply to smother the whole event and the
people behind it in words like wicked and evil. This is the vocabulary of desperation:
expressions of intellectual and moral abdication, as if such acts must forever be beyond
understanding, so there is nothing sensible to be done except to purge the world of their
perpetrators, with as many bombs as it takes. Once we perceive that even such extreme
behaviourisinprinciplecomprehensible,andthatitisveryprobablyrootedinthedeep,human,
evolved sense of justice and injustice, and perpetrated by young people who feel done down
and have a yen for martyrdom, then we at least have the basis for sensible and perhaps
http://web.b.ebscohost.com.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/ehost/delivery?sid=c8fd6c7d9c6943159491e34b0cc7230d%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=107

4/5

5/2/2015

EBSCOhost

effectivestrategy.
Ofcourse,evolutionarypsychologydoesnotprovideanallembracingtheoryofhumannature.
Itisnotasoloturn,toreplaceallotherwaysoflookingatourselves.Butitshouldbeaccepted
alongside other sources of insight, including psychology, sociology, philosophy, literature. And
the common canard of the critics, that the hypotheses of evolutionary psychology are not
testableandthereforearenotscience,issimplynottrue.Theseareonlythebeginnings,too.
Evolutionarypsychologyisnotapanacea,oranalgorithm,butitsurelyisasignificantstepin
whatshouldbehumanity'squestforenlightenment.
PHOTO(COLOR)
PHOTO(COLOR)
PHOTO(COLOR):Wegotogreatlengthstoestablishourreputationsasgood,honestpeople
PHOTO(COLOR):Whenthesepeopleareonoursidewecallthemheroesandmartyrs:when
theyarenot,welabelthemterrorists
~~~~~~~~
ByColinTudge
ColinTudge'slatestbooks,InMendel'sFootnotesandTheVarietyofLife,arenowavailablein
paperback.TheauthorisespeciallygratefultoOliverCurryattheLondonSchoolofEconomics
forhishelpinpreparingthisarticle

2002,NewScientist,ReedBusinessInformationUK,Ltd.,adivisionofReedElsevier,Inc.
AllRightsReserved.CopyrightofNewScientististhepropertyofReedBusinessInformation
anditscontentmaynotbecopiedoremailedtomultiplesitesorpostedtoalistservwithoutthe
copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email
articlesforindividualuse.

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/ehost/delivery?sid=c8fd6c7d9c6943159491e34b0cc7230d%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=107

5/5