Love and War: Human Nature in Crisis

Rudolf Harmsen, Ph.D., & Paddy S. Welles, Ph.D.
Robert D. Reed Publishers (2010)
ISBN 9781934759462
Reviewed by Carol Hoyer, PhD, for Reader Views (12/10)

 

First, I would like to say that many of the topics in this particular book are ones that I have discussed with my college Psychology students. Questions arise as to what is “survival of the fittest,” and who does it benefit? Are we such a society filled with hate, fear and revenge that we feel our only option is to go to war and try to control other countries?

The authors have done an excellent job in discussing survival of the fittest, not only in humans, but for animals as well. Additional topics include how fear can cause us to lose our rational to think objectively and end up following ill-equipped leaders who have their own agendas to gain more power. An excellent example the authors used was the Iraqi war.

When discussing survival of the fittest we often think it needs to be the most aggressive or competitive, but that is not always the case. It depends on the social and environmental factors. Often when we fear that others are getting more than we are, we become afraid, jealous and angry. Since these emotions take over, we look to get what we feel is “justified” for us.

One of the subjects we often discuss in my classes is that sometimes our parents or caregivers wound us in the name of love. From that we come into conflict with ourselves and most know that we are born with a genetic predisposition that influences us to act one way or another.

The chapter on passion love and emotion was filled with very thought-provoking statements and examples. Most of us only want affection, attention and love in addition to being included into a group or sub group, whether it is our family, relatives or those in our community.

Once our aggression or fear gets out of control we have gone to war, inflicting damage on men, women and children and societies. Our fear feeds into what the government or certain political groups are saying and regardless of whether we know the facts or not, we are ready to take up “battle” against anyone who is different from us.

The authors have done an extraordinary amount of research for this book. “Love and War: Human Nature in Crisis” is easy to read and understand. Each chapter has additional references. In the end of the book, the authors give suggestions on how we can change what is going on in our world now before it’s too late.

 

Reviewed by Vicki Landes for Reader Views (12/10)

Authors Rudolf Harmsen and Paddy Welles take on the colossal subject of human emotion and the psychology behind our actions in their book, “Love and War: Human Nature in Crisis.”  This in-depth study probes the ‘why’ of our reaction to the various ‘love’ and ‘hate’ stimuli and attempts to put it into both animal world and current event perspectives.  The result is a fascinating analysis that is both enlightening and hopeful.

Harmsen and Welles take an extremely intelligent and organized approach to their presentation; their ideas are grounded in published literature and peer-reviewed articles which support every point they make.  Each chapter builds upon the previous one, explaining and breaking down examples all the while.  I did find the overall tone to be rather politically biased; from the Obama quote at the very beginning, utilizing a benign adjective like ‘sovereign’ when discussing Iraq, and the obvious negative language when discussing past Republican presidents gave more of an ‘agenda’ feel to the book.   However, this tone did not overwhelm or distract from the study; I simply found it only mildly irritating because I do not share the same political views.  However, with political views aside, “Love and War:  Human Nature in Crisis” is about delving into the human psyche and succeeds in explaining its theories remarkably well.

Written by two exceptionally educated authors, “Love and War: Human Nature in Crisis” exudes experience and intelligence from its pages.  The combination of Harmsen’s and Welles’ extensive and respective backgrounds in biology and psychology, the pair utilizes the animal world to parallel human nature.  I especially liked how they brought the book full circle at the end; they do more than just present their findings on the ugliness of human behavior.  The last couple of chapters concentrate on ‘Shaping a Sustaining and Peaceful Future’ and ‘Transforming our Destiny.’  Regardless of political views, these chapters are worth serious consideration for long-term peace.

A must read for those looking for psychological explanations to current global affairs!  Highly intelligent and profoundly detailed, authors Harmsen and Welles went well above and beyond what I expected to find in this book.  I walked away from “Love and War: Human Nature in Crisis” the same way I walked away from Daniel Goleman’s “Emotional Intelligence” after reading it for the first time:  ‘WOW!’

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