The Most Dangerous Animal: Human Nature and the Origins of War

The Most Dangerous Animal examines what aspects of human nature enable people to wage war and commit mass violence. Nearly 200 million people, predominantly civilians, have died in wars over the last century, with no clear end to such conflict. The book traces war's presence throughout human history and prehistory, and examines chimpanzee behavior to argue that humans have evolved a capacity for group violence over millions of years. It explores how the human mind contains contradictory impulses: we are capable of committing terrible atrocities against one another, yet we also possess a deep aversion to killing and horror at taking human life. Drawing on research in evolution, history, anthropology, and psychology, the book presents examples from ancient and modern history to explain why humans are capable of both extreme cruelty and moral restraint. Smith offers an analysis of human nature's dual character in the context of an increasingly dangerous world.