Dominance or Creation? The Evolutionary Roots of Our "Weak Morality"

Abstract

This essay, "Dominance or Creation? The Evolutionary Roots of Our 'Weak Morality'," challenges the long-standing "Labor Hypothesis" popularized by Engels, which posits that human evolution was driven primarily by tool-making and the peaceful transformation of nature. Instead, it advances the Dominance Hypothesis, arguing that the primary catalyst for the exponential development of human intelligence, complex motor skills, and social architecture was inter-group violence (warfare), not creation or hunting. Archaeological evidence, the author contends, demonstrates the primacy of conflict, consistently showing that the most technologically sophisticated artifacts—from stone spearheads to modern jet engines—were initially weapons, developed in an "arms race" to outmatch an equally intelligent opponent, thus accelerating technological refinement for the purpose of supremacy and dominance. The essay further explores how this evolutionary foundation rooted in aggression explains the human paradox of "weak morality"—a situational ethical system easily bent to serve the aim of dominance, allowing for the justification of brutal violence against an out-group. This imperative is visible even in contemporary technologies like the Internet, which are routinely weaponized. The author concludes with a call for radical self-awareness, arguing that humanity risks programming Artificial Intelligence with this intrinsic aggressive essence, potentially creating an entity focused on global dominance unless we acknowledge and consciously control the fundamental duality of our nature.

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