Are we still primitive? The science behind human power struggles

The evolutionary roots of human dominance and aggression remain pivotal to social and political behaviour, and without conscious efforts, these primal survival drives will continue to fuel inequality and division. There were the arguments of a medical professor who as global conflicts rise and democracies face growing challenges,
Says understanding how dominance and tribal instincts fuel division is more critical than ever.
In his book, A New Approach to Human Social Evolution, Professor Jorge A. Colombo, MD, PhD, explores neuroscience, anthropology, and behavioural science to provide a new perspective on human social evolution. In the book, he argues that fundamental behavioural drives – such as dominance, survival instincts, and competition are deeply ingrained in humans and continue to influence global politics, economic disparity, and social structures today.
He also warns about how without a conscious effort to counteract these instincts, humans risk perpetuating the cycles of power struggles, inequality, and environmental destruction that define much of human history.
“In an era marked by rising authoritarianism, economic inequality, environmental crises, and nationalism, understanding how ancient survival mechanisms continue to shape human behaviour is crucial. With increasing polarisation in politics, conflicts over resources, and the struggle for social justice, I contend that only through education and universal values can humanity transcend these instincts to foster a more sustainable and equitable society,” he explains.
A former Full Professor at the University of South Florida (USA) and Principal Investigator at the National Research Council (CONICET, Argentina), Professor Colombo explains how human behaviour evolved from an ancient heritage of survival-driven instincts. He argues that the transition from prey to universal predator affected the organization of the human brain. However, the human species also had to contend with the notion of mortality, and so in our core neural circuits (mainly in the basal brain) survive our basal drives (reproductive, territorial, survival, feeding), basic responses (fight, flight), and the thresholds for their behavioural expression.
He adds that, though, over time, due to brain’s plasticity, traits such as creativeness, cognitive expansion, artistic expression, progressive toolmaking, and rich verbal communication were enabled, it did not deactivate or suppress ancient drives and only succeeded in diverting (camouflaging) their expression or repressing them temporarily.
Professor Colombo argues that humans are bound to their ancestral demands imprinted as a set of basic drives (territorialism, reproduction, survival, secure feeding sources, dominance, and cumulative behaviour), which exist in friction with our cultural drives.
“Ancient animal survival drives persist in humans, masked under various behavioural paradigms. Fight and flight remain basic behavioural principles. Even subdued under religious or mystic beliefs, aggressive and defensive behaviours emerge to defend or fight for even the most sophisticated peaceful beliefs, and events throughout humankind’s history support this evidence,” he explains.
He points out the instances of dominance in politics (military oppression, propaganda, or financial repression), religion (punishing gods, esoteric menaces), and education (forms of punishment and thought process conditioning).

“The aggressiveness, cruelties, social inequities, and unrelenting individual and socioeconomic class ambitions are the best evidence that humans must first recognize and assume their fundamental nature to change their ancestral drive. Profound cultural changes are only possible and enduring if humans come to grips with their actual primary condition,” he adds.
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