#477 in History books
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Reddit mentions of War and Peace and War: The Rise and Fall of Empires
Sentiment score: 3
Reddit mentions: 6
We found 6 Reddit mentions of War and Peace and War: The Rise and Fall of Empires. Here are the top ones.
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- War And Peace And War By Turchin Peter
Features:
Specs:
Color | Multicolor |
Height | 8.45 Inches |
Length | 5.6 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | February 2007 |
Weight | 0.82452885988 Pounds |
Width | 0.9 Inches |
There is an argument using evolutionary theory that agriculture was only adopted to increase group fitness at the cost of indivual fitness.
Lots of civilisation diseases started with the adoption of agriculture.
So there is the argument that agriculture made civilisation possible but at the cost of pure indivual strength and physical prowess.
There is lots of evidence that early agricultural societies had less than healthy members compared to hunter gatherers.
When you think about it, the indivual skills of a warrior in a large army is less important than pure numbers, most armies in the past were farmers called to war once a year, and yet the prevailed most of the time against nomad societies whos way of life made them formidable indivual warriors like the steppe people, just by numbers alone.
Edit:
If someone is interested where these theories come from, I recommend these books:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0452288193/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_0452288193
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0996139516/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_0996139516
https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Our-Success-Evolution-Domesticating/dp/0691178437/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=joseph+henrich&qid=1558984106&s=gateway&sprefix=joseph+henr&sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.com/Not-Genes-Alone-Transformed-Evolution/dp/0226712125/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=not+by+genes+alone&qid=1558984151&s=gateway&sprefix=Not+by+ge&sr=8-1
This concept was actually a really big interest of mine in my graduate career (though specifically as it related to the Roman Empire). Peter Turchin has written some good and approachable books on how political instability rises as populations approach their maximum possible density.
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His first book on the subject that reads very nicely: https://www.amazon.com/War-Peace-Rise-Fall-Empires/dp/0452288193
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A short (though fairly jargon-y) article on these effects on Roman instability: http://peterturchin.com/PDF/Turchin_SDEAS_2005a.pdf
Recommended reading: Peter Turchin's War and Peace and War where he spends quite a bit of time discussing this idea originally from Ibn Khaldun.
I'd translate loosely as "socially cohesiveness" / "tribal loyalty".
The Collapse of Complex Societies
War and Peace and War: The Rise and Fall of Empires
Historical Dynamics: Why States Rise and Fall
Genes, Peoples, and Languages
The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution
The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood
> I think humans have a natural aversion to violence, that just makes sense from a self-preservation aspect, I think the glorification of violence is something that is taught to us.
You have that backwards, violence is a base urge, it comes from instincts, a desire for peace has been in bedded through education and human conscientiousness.
Humans will also never change.
If you want a better understanding you could buy this book, I highly recommend it.
You want studies or a book?
One of the most profound books i have ever read is this on how states rise and fall. It's the most enlighting thing I have ever read, it changed how I view the world fundamentaly
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0452288193/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_0452288193
Its a popular book without the mathematical models behind it
Here is the mathematical version
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0691116695/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_0691116695
But its quite expensive and only available as hardcover but there should be a different version coming out soon
For the study on cooperation this
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0996139516/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1517513099&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Peter+turchin&dpPl=1&dpID=41Ux9xQvfIL&ref=plSrch
On cultural evolution this books makes an incredible strong argument
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0691178437/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_0691178437
On how religion influences pro social behaviour this
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0691169748/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517513482&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Ara+Norenzayan&dpPl=1&dpID=61TgLU80vIL&ref=plSrch