This podcast episode explores the juxtaposition between humans' social nature and their need for each other to get along with the inevitability of disputes and violence. It raises the question of how important cooperation is to the core of who we are as humans.
The host and guest discuss the potential connection between ego, martial arts, and the history of ancestral violence, questioning whether our struggles with ego and demons stem from deep-rooted ancestral issues.
Disputes between different people, cultures, and nations can lead to violence, even though most people today do not condone it. However, there are some disputes that cannot be resolved peacefully and where violence may be the ultimate outcome.
Cooperation allowed humans to develop a greater scale of hierarchy, with an alpha male on top, which enabled humans to go from no combat effectiveness to being able to kill any animal with a simple metal tip spear.