Editing Human (section)

=== Conflict ===
{{main|Conflict (process)}}
[[File:Into the Jaws of Death 23-0455M edit.jpg|thumb|American troops [[Normandy landings|landing at Normandy]], WWII]]
Humans commit violence on other humans at a rate comparable to other primates, but have an increased preference for killing adults, [[Infanticide (zoology)|infanticide]] being more common among other primates.<ref>{{cite web|vauthors=Yong E|date=28 September 2016|title=Humans: Unusually Murderous Mammals, Typically Murderous Primates|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/09/humans-are-unusually-violent-mammals-but-averagely-violent-primates/501935/|access-date=7 May 2021|website=The Atlantic|language=en|archive-date=7 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507121602/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/09/humans-are-unusually-violent-mammals-but-averagely-violent-primates/501935/|url-status=live}}</ref> Phylogenetic analysis predicts that 2% of early ''H. sapiens'' would be [[murder]]ed, rising to 12% during the medieval period, before dropping to below 2% in modern times.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Gómez JM, Verdú M, González-Megías A, Méndez M | title = The phylogenetic roots of human lethal violence | journal = Nature | volume = 538 | issue = 7624 | pages = 233–237 | date = October 2016 | pmid = 27680701 | doi = 10.1038/nature19758 | bibcode = 2016Natur.538..233G | s2cid = 4454927 }}</ref> There is great variation in violence between human populations, with rates of homicide about 0.01% in societies that have [[List of national legal systems|legal systems]] and strong cultural attitudes against violence.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Pagel M | title = Animal behaviour: Lethal violence deep in the human lineage | journal = Nature | volume = 538 | issue = 7624 | pages = 180–181 | date = October 2016 | pmid = 27680700 | doi = 10.1038/nature19474 | bibcode = 2016Natur.538..180P | s2cid = 4459560 | url = https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/67361/1/Pagel%20N%26V%20on%20Gomez%20et%20al.pdf | access-date = 30 July 2022 | archive-date = 20 May 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220520203015/https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/67361/1/Pagel%20N%26V%20on%20Gomez%20et%20al.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref>

The willingness of humans to kill other members of their species en masse through organized conflict (i.e., [[war]]) has long been the subject of debate. One school of thought holds that war evolved as a means to eliminate competitors, and has always been an innate human characteristic. Another suggests that war is a relatively recent phenomenon and has appeared due to changing social conditions.<ref name="Ferguson-2018">{{cite web|vauthors=Ferguson RB|date=1 September 2018|title=War Is Not Part of Human Nature|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/war-is-not-part-of-human-nature/|website=Scientific American|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130124940/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/war-is-not-part-of-human-nature/|url-status=live}}</ref> While not settled, current evidence indicates warlike predispositions only became common about 10,000 years ago, and in many places much more recently than that.<ref name="Ferguson-2018" /> War has had a high cost on human life; it is estimated that during the 20th century, between 167 million and 188 million people died as a result of war.<ref>{{cite magazine | vauthors = Ferguson N | title = The Next War of the World | magazine = Foreign Affairs | date = September–October 2006 | url = https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2006-09-01/next-war-world | access-date = 30 July 2022 | archive-date = 25 April 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220425051203/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2006-09-01/next-war-world | url-status = live }}</ref> War casualty data is less reliable for pre-medieval times, especially global figures. But compared with any period over the past 600 years, the last ~80 years (post 1946), has seen a very significant drop in global military and civilian death rates due to armed conflict.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2015/6/23/8832311/war-casualties-600-years|title=600 years of war and peace, in one amazing chart|first=Zack|last=Beauchamp|date=23 June 2015|website=Vox}}</ref>