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Toward a More Complete View of Human Nature

Toward a More Complete View of Human Nature Essay Review Human Development 2006;49:232–235 DOI: 10.1159/000094371 Toward a More Complete View of Human Nature Essay Review of The Human Potential for Peace: An Anthropological Challenge to Assumptions about War and Violence by Douglas P. Fry and of Our Inner Ape by Frans de Waal Marina Cords Columbia University, New York, N.Y. , USA The daily barrage of news stories about war, terrorism, and violent physical abuse are ready reminders of kinds of behavior that many of us wish were absent from our species’ repertoire. Indeed, every year before Christmas I look forward to the profi les of the ‘Neediest Cases’ in my local paper, the New York Times, which dis- burses charitable donations to individuals who often show remarkable acts of caring for others in the face of great adversity. These cases clearly exemplify more admirable social behavior, and they act as an emotional antidote to the daily headlines. Still, it is violence that grabs media attention, at least here in the United States. Assuming that media headlines represent the subjects about which people want to inform them- selves, we might conclude that there is a fascination with violence in our times. Is our fascination a simple result http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Human Development Karger

Toward a More Complete View of Human Nature

Cords, Marina
Human Development , Volume 49 (4): 4 – Oct 1, 2006
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References (4)

Publisher
Karger
Copyright
© 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel
ISSN
0018-716X
eISSN
1423-0054
DOI
10.1159/000094371
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Essay Review Human Development 2006;49:232–235 DOI: 10.1159/000094371 Toward a More Complete View of Human Nature Essay Review of The Human Potential for Peace: An Anthropological Challenge to Assumptions about War and Violence by Douglas P. Fry and of Our Inner Ape by Frans de Waal Marina Cords Columbia University, New York, N.Y. , USA The daily barrage of news stories about war, terrorism, and violent physical abuse are ready reminders of kinds of behavior that many of us wish were absent from our species’ repertoire. Indeed, every year before Christmas I look forward to the profi les of the ‘Neediest Cases’ in my local paper, the New York Times, which dis- burses charitable donations to individuals who often show remarkable acts of caring for others in the face of great adversity. These cases clearly exemplify more admirable social behavior, and they act as an emotional antidote to the daily headlines. Still, it is violence that grabs media attention, at least here in the United States. Assuming that media headlines represent the subjects about which people want to inform them- selves, we might conclude that there is a fascination with violence in our times. Is our fascination a simple result

Journal

Human Development – Karger

Published: Oct 1, 2006

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