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EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY:
THE FATUOUS DISCIPLINE
The theory of evolution by natural selection applies to most species; but does not explain the development of the human species. Data supporting this view appears below. Based on First World War I casualties, one may estimate that perhaps twenty-million men who participated in this war did not have the opportunity to pass their genes along.
Wiping the slate clean: The idea that all forms of behavior--the behavior of human beings within human cultures or societies have "survival value"--is a fatuous one. The evidence suggests, to the contrary, that many forms of human behavior do not have survival value.
One is inclined to laugh at the notion that human behavior in human societies persists because it has "survival value." Based on the evidence, it is more accurate to state that human beings engage in many forms of behavior that do not have survival value. Warfare (e. g., the First World War--see below) was an example of a societal form of behavior that did not have survival value; quite the contrary that was profoundly detrimental to human survival.
The desire to pretend that human beings are animals just like other animals is profound. Human beings, however, are that species that seeks to develop ideas and ideologies and institutions whose purpose is to transcend or go beyond our animal nature. This desire took the form early on in the development the Egyptian pyramids. Since then, the history of civilization has been dominated by institutions and ideologies that promise immortality, but result in tens-of-millions of dead human beings.
A refutation of the idea that warfare has survival value crystalizes in the ending of Dr. Strangelove.
Richard Koenigsberg
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First World War Casualties
| Country |
Men mobilized |
Killed |
Wounded |
POW’s + missing |
Total casualties |
casualties in % of men mobilized |
| Russia |
12 mill |
1.7 mill |
4.9 mill |
2.5 mill |
9.15 mill |
76.3 |
| France |
8.4 mill |
1.3 mill |
4.2 mill |
537,000 |
6.1 mill |
73.3 |
| GB + Empire |
8.9 mill |
908,000 |
2 mill |
191,000 |
3.1 mill |
35.8 |
| Italy |
5.5 mill |
650,000 |
947,000 |
600,000 |
2.1 mill |
39 |
| USA |
4.3 mill |
126,000 |
234,000 |
4,500 |
350,000 |
8 |
| Japan |
800,000 |
300 |
900 |
3 |
1210 |
0.2 |
| Romania |
750,000 |
335,000 |
120,000 |
80,000 |
535,000 |
71 |
| Serbia |
700,000 |
45,000 |
133,000 |
153,000 |
331,000 |
47 |
| Belgium |
267,000 |
13,800 |
45,000 |
34,500 |
93,000 |
35 |
| Greece |
230,000 |
5000 |
21,000 |
1000 |
27,000 |
12 |
| Portugal |
100,000 |
7222 |
13,700 |
12,000 |
33,000 |
33 |
| Total Allies |
42 mill |
5 mill |
13 mill |
4 mill |
22 mill |
52% |
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| Germany |
11 mill |
1.7 mill |
4.2 mill |
1.1 mill |
7.1 mill |
65 |
| Austria |
7.8 mill |
1.2 mill |
3.6 mill |
2.2 mill |
7 mill |
90 |
| Turkey |
2.8 mill |
325,000 |
400,000 |
250,000 |
975,000 |
34 |
| Bulgaria |
1.2 mill |
87,000 |
152,000 |
27,000 |
266,000 |
22 |
| Total Central Powers |
22.8 mill |
3.3 mill |
8.3 mill |
3.6 mill |
15 mill |
67 |
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| Grand Total |
65 mill |
8.5 mill |
21 mill |
7.7 mill |
37 mill |
57% |
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