From the very beginning, life on Earth has been defined by war. Today those first wars continue to be fought around and inside us, influencing our individual behavior and that of civilization as a whole. War between populations—whether between different species or between rival groups of humans—is seen as an inevitable part of the evolutionary process. The popular concept of survival of the fittest explains and often excuses these actions.

In Population Wars, Greg Graffin points to where the mainstream view of evolutionary theory has led us astray. That misunderstanding has allowed us to justify wars on every level, whether against bacterial colonies or human societies, even when other, less violent solutions may be available. Through tales of mass extinctions, developing immune systems, human warfare, the American industrial heartland, and our degrading modern environment, Graffin demonstrates how an oversimplified idea of war, with its victorious winners and vanquished losers, prevents us from responding to the real problems we face. Along the way, Graffin reveals a paradox: When we challenge conventional definitions of war, we are left with a new problem—how to define ourselves.

Population Wars is a paradigm-shifting book about why humans behave the way they do and the ancient history that explains that behavior. In reading it, you'll see why we need to rethink the reasons for war, not only the human military kind but also Darwin's "war of nature," and find hope for a less violent future for mankind.

Introduction: Finding the Enemy
1. Persistence in the Face of Extinction
2. The Long History of Population Wars
3. The Meaning of Coexistence
4. The Context of Persistence, the Bacterial Dimension
5. The Symbiotic Dependency of Life, the Viral Dimension
6. Establishing a War Narrative for Populations, the Immune System
7. War Is Unwinnable
8. Competition Is Untenable
9. Know Thyself, Don't Lie to Thyself
10. Evolution Management
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index