Why Do People Kill Other People?

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2002 : WHAT IS YOUR QUESTION? ... WHY? In the News [ 1 ] | Contributors [ 99 ] | View All Responses [ 99 ] David M. Buss Professor of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin; Author, When Men Behave Badly Why do people kill other people?

 

No offense against another human being inflicts greater costs than killing. Simply put, it's bad to be dead. Nonetheless, hundreds of thousands are murdered every year; tens of millions over the past century. From baby killing to genocide, from Susan Smith to Osama bin Laden, people in every culture experience the urge to kill. Some act on it. They do so despite legal injunctions, religious prohibitions, cultural interdictions, the risk of retaliation, and the threat of spending life in a cage. Dead bodies, a trail of grief, and a thirst for vengeance lie in their wake.

Many believe that they already know the answer to the question of cause. But existing theories woefully fail to explain why people murder. Theories that invoke violent media messages, for example, cannot explain the high rates of homicide among tribal cultures that lack media access. Theories that invoke uniquely modern causes cannot explain the paleontological record — ancient skulls and skeletons that contain arrow tips, stone projectiles, and brutally inflicted fractures. The stones and bones of the past leave no doubt that murder has been a persistent problem of social living throughout human history. We need to understand why.

Return to Table of Contents 2018 : WHAT IS THE LAST QUESTION? 2017 : WHAT SCIENTIFIC TERM OR CONCEPT OUGHT TO BE MORE WIDELY KNOWN? 2016 : WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST INTERESTING RECENT [SCIENTIFIC] NEWS? WHAT MAKES IT IMPORTANT? 2015 : WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT MACHINES THAT THINK? 2014 : WHAT SCIENTIFIC IDEA IS READY FOR RETIREMENT? 2013 : WHAT *SHOULD* WE BE WORRIED ABOUT? 2012 : WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DEEP, ELEGANT, OR BEAUTIFUL EXPLANATION? 2011 : WHAT SCIENTIFIC CONCEPT WOULD IMPROVE EVERYBODY'S COGNITIVE TOOLKIT? 2010 : HOW IS THE INTERNET CHANGING THE WAY YOU THINK? 2009 : WHAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING? 2008 : WHAT HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND ABOUT? WHY? 2007 : WHAT ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC ABOUT? 2006 : WHAT IS YOUR DANGEROUS IDEA? 2005 : WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS TRUE EVEN THOUGH YOU CANNOT PROVE IT? 2004 : WHAT'S YOUR LAW? 2003 : WHAT ARE THE PRESSING SCIENTIFIC ISSUES FOR THE NATION AND THE WORLD, AND WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE ON HOW I CAN BEGIN TO DEAL WITH THEM? - GWB 2002 : WHAT IS YOUR QUESTION? ... WHY? 2001 : WHAT NOW? 2001 : WHAT QUESTIONS HAVE DISAPPEARED? 2000 : WHAT IS TODAY'S MOST IMPORTANT UNREPORTED STORY? 1999 : WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT INVENTION IN THE PAST TWO THOUSAND YEARS? 1998 : WHAT QUESTIONS ARE YOU ASKING YOURSELF?