All humans fall along a behavioral spectrum of friendliness and hostility. This spectrum is learned and usually transmitted from one generation to another. It would be pure speculation to associate this spectrum with different modes of living. One could say that the hunter-gatherers of 3000 BCE would be more aggressive and unfriendly to outsiders, while the more stationary agricultural residents of the same era would develop cooperative skills that would make them less unfriendly. We could also speculate the opposite. Since it is a spectrum, most of us fall in the middle. We can be friendly within one context, guarded, and reservedly unfriendly in another.
This website will analyze the underlying causes and mechanisms that cause some of us to cooperate and others to avoid cooperation. Although much is made of the human race’s ongoing technological advancements, little is said about our ability to live in peace with one another. Many believe that humanity will continue as it has for the last 5,000 years.
While all humans are flawed and often self-destructive, we have made some progress, and more progress can be made. Some people have elevated themselves and their societies above animalistic insecurity throughout recorded history. It has not been a steady, linear progression. A society may have a period of relative peace and prosperity, followed by decline due to internal forgetfulness or hostility from outside.