The Conqueror's DNA

Tracing the Human Path from Prehistoric Survival to Modern Self-Destruction

Civilization’s journey began on a much more crowded stage than many realize. Three hundred millennia ago, Earth was not the exclusive domain of modern humans; it was inhabited by at least nine distinct groups of the Homo genus. This diverse cast included the well-known Neanderthals, various archaic human groups, and specialized populations like the Red Deer Cave people. The archaeological record reveals a complex, non-linear history where these species coexisted, adapted to vastly different environments, and often interbred. The eventual emergence of Homo sapiens as the sole survivors of this crowded field was not a predetermined destiny but the result of intense, often brutal competition. While direct violence certainly played a significant role in this prehistoric winnowing, our ancestors also secured their position through superior adaptation enabled by technological innovation, dietary flexibility, and ecological dominance that allowed them to outcompete other hominids, leading to their gradual assimilation or total extinction.

Once Homo sapiens secured dominance over rival species, that intense competitive drive turned inward, sparking a ceaseless march of intra-species conflict that defines much of recorded history. We have constantly battled each other for resources, territory, and ideological supremacy. This pattern is evident in major geopolitical upheavals throughout the ages that fundamentally reshaped the political and economic landscape. In ancient Greece, the protracted Peloponnesian War weakened major city-states like Athens and Sparta, politically paving the way for Macedonian dominance. Later, the Mediterranean basin saw the Punic Wars, a brutal contest between Rome and Carthage over trade routes and territory that ended with Carthage's destruction and established Rome as the undisputed economic hegemon of the ancient world.

This cycle continued through centuries of European history, visible in the dynastic and territorial struggles of the Hundred Years' War which helped forge national identities, and later in the Napoleonic Wars, which spread revolutionary ideals while redrawing borders and consolidating British global economic power. The climax of this historical trajectory arrived with World War II, the deadliest conflict in recent human history, which resulted in massive geopolitical shifts including the establishment of the United Nations and the onset of the Cold War's bipolar economic divide. Yet, despite these catastrophic lessons and the immense political reshaping of the 20th century, the fundamental human drive to acquire from others—to seize their land, suppress their culture, and control their possessions—remains a potent force. We see this manifested today in 2025, not only in international disputes over dwindling resources and geopolitical influence but also within our own communities through rising intolerance toward different ways of life.

The drive for control and what some call inherent greed seems deeply embedded in the human condition, influencing everything from local social dynamics to global economic policies. The ultimate question we face now is where this relentless pursuit of domination is taking us. We have graduated from stone tools to technologies capable of global annihilation. If the historical pattern of suppressing others to secure our own way of life continues unchecked, combined with our immense technological capabilities, we risk engineering our own eventual demise.