Are Violence and War Written in Our Genes? document

Are Violence and War Written in Our Genes?

The Seville Statement on Violence and the Critique of Biological Determinism

The Middle East continues to be engulfed in war. In parts of Latin America, powerful criminal organizations undermine public security through systematic violence. Across the world, authoritarian regimes employ both overt and covert forms of violence against their own citizens.

The persistence of such violence throughout history has led many to conclude that humanity is trapped in an endless cycle of conflict. Historical records provide sobering evidence of this tragedy. World War I (1914–1918) claimed an estimated 15 to 22 million military and civilian lives. World War II (1939–1945) became even more devastating, leaving between 60 and 75 million people dead. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 marked one of the darkest moments in human history, killing tens of thousands within days and causing suffering that lasted for generations.

Nor did the end of the World Wars bring an end to mass violence. In 1994, the Rwandan genocide claimed nearly 800,000 lives within a matter of weeks. One year later, in July 1995, more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were murdered in the Srebrenica genocide despite the area’s designation as a United Nations “safe area.” More recently, the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has once again demonstrated the devastating human cost of armed conflict, with tens of thousands of casualties, widespread displacement, and the destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, and essential civilian infrastructure.

Yet violence is not confined to battlefields.

Every day, millions of people experience violence in their homes, schools, workplaces, and communities. Domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse, sexual violence, bullying, hate crimes, and violence against women continue to affect countless lives across the globe. The World Health Organization recognizes violence as one of the major public health challenges of our time, with profound consequences for human dignity and social well-being.

Faced with this long history of bloodshed, some have concluded that war and violence are simply part of human nature—that periods of peace are merely temporary pauses between inevitable conflicts. According to this view, violence and war are rooted in our biological makeup and therefore cannot truly be overcome.

But is humanity really imprisoned by its biology?

This question brings us to an important concept in contemporary science known as Biological Determinism. According to this perspective, human behavior is largely—or even entirely—determined by biological factors, especially our genes. Applied to violence and war, biological determinism suggests that human beings are naturally predisposed to violence and therefore destined to wage war.

The Seville Statement on Violence directly challenges this deterministic view.

Importantly, the Statement does not deny that biology influences human behavior. Rather, it rejects the claim that biology makes violence or war inevitable. Human beings possess moral agency, the capacity for learning, and the ability to make choices. Biology influences us, but it does not imprison us.

This distinction carries profound ethical and legal significance.

If violence and war were nothing more than unavoidable products of our genes, holding individuals accountable for genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity would become difficult to justify. Perpetrators could claim they merely acted according to biological programming rather than conscious choice.

Yet this argument has never been accepted by law or by the moral conscience of humanity. The establishment of international criminal tribunals—including the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)—reflects the international community’s recognition that human beings possess free will, moral responsibility, and the capacity to choose between violence and restraint.

Science supports this moral understanding.

The Scientific Response: The Seville Statement on Violence

In 1986, an international group of leading scientists—including psychologists, neuroscientists, anthropologists, and biologists—met in Seville, Spain, under the auspices of UNESCO’s Spanish National Commission to examine widespread assumptions about the biological origins of war.

The result was the Seville Statement on Violence, officially endorsed by UNESCO in 1989.

Its central message remains remarkably clear:

Peace is possible because war is not a biological necessity.

Although the Statement was drafted primarily in response to theories about the origins of war, its reasoning extends more broadly to many forms of interpersonal and collective violence. It challenges the mistaken belief that violent behavior is simply an unavoidable consequence of human biology.

Five Scientific Conclusions

The Seville Statement rejects five common misconceptions:

1. War is not inherited from our animal ancestors.

There is no scientific basis for claiming that human warfare is a direct inheritance from animal behavior. Organized warfare is a uniquely human social institution rather than a biological legacy shared across species.

2. Human genes do not program us for violence.

Genes influence development, but they do not predetermine violent behavior. Human actions emerge through the interaction of biology, culture, education, environment, and personal choice.

3. Evolution did not select aggression above all other traits.

Human evolution has favored cooperation, empathy, communication, and mutual assistance alongside competition. Survival has depended as much on collaboration as on conflict.

4. There is no “violent brain.”

The human brain is not biologically designed to compel violent behavior. Neural systems process information, evaluate circumstances, and enable self-control rather than forcing aggression.

5. War is not the product of a single instinct.

War does not arise from one irresistible biological drive. Rather, it results from complex political, social, economic, cultural, and cognitive processes shaped by human decisions.

A Message of Hope

The Seville Statement concludes with an inspiring affirmation:

Humanity is not biologically condemned to war.

Just as wars are created by human beings, peace can also be created by human beings. If violence is not an unavoidable destiny written into our genes, then education, justice, dialogue, democratic institutions, respect for human dignity, and the rule of law become genuine instruments for building peaceful societies.

The future of humanity is therefore not determined by biology alone.

It is shaped by the choices we make.

Further Reading