In the animal kingdom, few intra-species conflicts are settled by combat to the death. Its mostly a question of bluff, bluster, a few half-hearted swings and misses, and one side or the other backs down. Injuries are minor, and deaths are rare. The purpose of violence is to drive off a rival, not annihilate his entire population. This occurs whether it is two males squabbling over leadership of a harem, or two bands of apes fighting over a tree loaded with ripe fruit.

Even among tribal peoples, most "battles" generally resolve into two lines of guys yelling insults at each other, with an occasional real rumble between the baddest dudes on each side. Even in the Iliad, we see this kind of combat described. The Greek and Trojan armies face off, and the heroes occasionally call each other out and duke it out.

But as armies became more disciplined, better organized and trained, and equipped with more lethal weapons, the killing became more refined--and more out of control.

The origin of war is in the natural aggression given to us by nature, and men are programmed to participate because they are the gender which is expendable. But like too many of our social and biological behaviors, aggression is now out of control--the killing is massive and even the causes of the conflict are forgotten.

Remember this guy?