title: Warriors, levelers, and the role of conflict in human social evolution.
abstract: The origins of such varied features of contemporary life as the national state and the desire to uphold generous and civic social norms are to be found in a combination of conflict between groups and attenuation of both inequalities and conflicts within groups. In contrast to the adoption of a better tool or a more productive crop, which can be adopted by a single individual, a new institution works only if most people adopt it. This explains why collective action against those benefitting from the status quo at the expense of others, as well as conflict between groups governed by different norms and institutions, figures so prominently in our capacity to adapt to changing circumstances and to harness new knowledge for human benefit.
authors.affiliation: Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA. samuel.bowles@gmail.com
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bowles
mesh_terms: D000533:Altruism; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003468:Cultural Evolution / Q000266:history; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D011056:Political Systems / Q000266:history; D012919:Social Behavior; D012945:Social Values; D014857:Warfare