Demonic Males Summary

Exactly how much of the human genome is similar to that of the great apes? How did the human species come to evolve so much further than their ancestors? Where did this violent behavior come from? Is the violence in human beings biological, cultural, or both? In Demonic Males, the authors Dale Peterson and Richard Wrangham rely on field research executed in central Africa to help answer these questions regarding the violence in humans compared to the violence in apes. Agreeing with these authors argument, I too believe that violence in human beings is biological. According to Dale and Richard, there are a few well-known painters, authors and anthropologists believed that “human evil was a naturally acquired thing.” This means

There are many different disorders and diseases that can make a person behave violently. If these traits are passed down to future generations the violent behavior in humans may continue on throughout a family. Some murderers such as Adam Lanza, whose mother was not in the right state of mind and took Lanza off of his medication and treatments, may only have committed the crimes because of his parent’s actions. If she had realized that he needed the medication because of his disorders that were passed down to him, he may have been able to remain peaceful. If humans really do descend from the line of great apes, more particularly, the chimpanzees, the human species have more than likely inherited the chimpanzee’s genes to kill. As for many of the famous serial killers of America, such as Jeffrey Dahmer, their parents were perfectly healthy. Jeffrey's mother was a Teletype machine instructor and his father was a student at Marquette University, working towards a degree in chemistry. His parents were very smart and had no disorders or illnesses. Why did Dahmer rape, murder and feast on his victims if he had no mental illnesses or any type of disorders passed down to him? Many would say Dahmer came from a good home, and if this being the case then why did commit so many violent crimes? As stated

For example, one could use statistics to show that the violence in a particular region is higher than the violence in another. This would mean that many different factors would have to be taken into question such as, if the area is rural or metropolitan, if the population of that certain territory was high or low, and also what type of religions are followed by the people who live there. According to the City University of New York in 2013 the number of murders in New York City was 335. In Chicago, 414 murders were committed. Compared to San Diego, California and Austin, Texas (having only 65 murders combined), New York and Chicago have much higher crime rates. Is this because of their population size? Is it because of the types of religions in their particular region? Or is it simply because people are out for