30
Here's where nature's tendency to gamble away the lives of men
comes in.  And here's where the urge of one superorganism to pit itself
against its neighbors begins to show that--despite its total moral
unacceptability--the violent competition between societies is a
contributor to the evolutionary process.  Chimps and gorillas make
war, and their early-human relatives, neurally endowed with many of
the same instinctive imperatives, almost certainly followed in their
path.  So the rock and stick tossers were probably eager to try their new
skills out on the skulls of their neighbors.  And boys being what they
are, the neighbors themselves were likely to be itching for a good fight.
But against a tribe with the knack of tossing, a gang that was still trying
to use its fists and teeth didn't stand a chance.  The ancestors of the
great baseball players of the future could only come out on top.
When a gang of mountain apes wins a battle against a rival tribe,
it kidnaps the nubile females of the defeated troop.  The victorious
primates take these captive maidens back home and add them to the
harem.48  Primitive humans do the same.  So it's easy to imagine what
happens when the guys with the great throwing arms out-toss a group
that hasn't learned to hurl.  The winners massacre an appalling number
of rival men with their well-aimed lobs.  Then, in the manner of
mountain apes, the winning tribe of makes off with the losers' mates.
They throw a feast, eat a lot of antelope, hump their new brides like
rabbits, and spread great pitchers across the face of the planet.   The
murderous males further mother nature's plans, introducing new
improvements in the line of living things.  Masculine expendability
proves a part of the cosmic scheme for research and development.  So
does the itch of one superorganism to fling itself into battle against
another.   What a truly unpleasant idea.
And you wondered why little boys love to play ball!
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