TOW #15: Nonfiction Text- "Is Warefare in Our Bones?" by The Editorial Board of the New York Times

The age old question of whether humans are inherently good or not is one that to this day we struggle to find an answer to. In the biblical tale of Adam and Eve, humans are seen as inherently pure and good until struggles for dominance arose with the knowledge of the forbidden fruit. This article written by the Editorial Board of the New York Times focuses on a recent discovery in Africa of a brutal clash between two groups of prehistoric hunter-gatherers on the shore of an African lake, providing facts regarding the incident, as well as to provoke thought in the reader to question the nature of human-kind itself, through the use of data, compare and contrast, as well as rhetorical questioning.

The author uses compare and contrast to open up a realm of possible answers to the recent discovery in Africa. The author presents information regarding the biblical tale of Adam and Eve, and their struggles as a result of the forbidden fruit, and only as a result of the acquisition of knowledge. As well as a statement regarding a notion held by archaeologists “A corollary advanced by one school of archaeologists and anthropologists holds that our Stone Age ancestors were not inherently violent, and, apart from the odd murder, did not wage organized war until they started to coalesce into societies.” The following paragraph is meant to refute the information preceding it, as well as to introduce the “unmistakeable evidence of violent deaths”. The purpose of comparing the old and new beliefs regarding human nature is to provoke the reader to question these old beliefs and be open to the new information being presented.

In the concluding paragraph the author wraps the essay up by asking rhetorical questions. “But are they testimony to the inevitability of war? If warfare is indeed common from the dawn of human history, does that suggest that we will never cease fighting? Not necessarily. A propensity for violence, even if it is innate, has been more than matched throughout our existence by a preference for peace — a fact the bones of the victims of the battle of Nataruk cannot show.” These questions serve the purpose of provoking thought in the reader to question the nature of mankind that was previously thought to be figured out. The author leaves ambiguity in his/her answer to leave a burning question for all mankind.