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CrowdScience: Why do we go to war?

Discussion & Talk

12/07/2024 GMT

Why do we go to war?

BBC World Service - CrowdScience, Why do we go to war?

Are humans predisposed to resolve conflict with war?

Across the world, wars and bloody conflicts continue to rage. A deeply troubling reality that led a CrowdScience listener from Sierra Leone to pose this simple yet fascinating question: why is there still so much war and fighting in so many parts of the world?

In an effort to find the answers, CrowdScience has assembled some of the world's leading experts in psychology, anthropology, modern warfare and conflict mediation. Is fighting in our DNA? Are we predisposed to resolve conflict with war? Are we more violent now than we were in centuries past? As individuals, what is the true motivation for going to battle when, in a practical sense, the risks far outweigh the benefits?

We also look to our closest living relatives, and fellow primates, for potential answers. How and why do monkeys do battle? And can studying their complex behaviour help us as we strive for a world without war?

Produced by Paul Connolly for the BBC World Service.

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