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war and peace

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"...when there is little external warfare and competition, the successful groups find it difficult to curtail infighting amongst sub-groups within their society, and their lack of internal cooperation begins to make them vulnerable to attack from outsiders." - From review of Ultrasociety
This reminded me of the fact that fighting alternated with Kula exchange in the Trobriands before contact with Westerners.

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  1. aridedMarch 2, 2016 at 11:21 AM

    The following quote from "How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later" connects with the theme above, and also with the thinking embodied in the Harmon-style narrative outline:

    «The old, the ossified, must always give way to new life and the birth of new things. Before the new things can be born the old must perish. This is a dangerous realization, because it tells us that we must eventually part with much of what is familiar to us. And that hurts. But that is part of the script of life. Unless we can psychologically accommodate change, we ourselves begin to die, inwardly. What I am saying is that objects, customs, habits, and ways of life must perish so that the authentic human being can live. And it is the authentic human being who matters most, the viable, elastic organism which can bounce back, absorb, and deal with the new. Of course, I would say this, because I live near Disneyland, and they are always adding new rides and destroying old ones. Disneyland is an evolving organism.»

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