War has been an exponentially increasing scourge throughout human history. According to the World Health Organization, about 200 million people lost their lives because of collective violence in the 20th century. Today, war threatens our species.

Wars have largely spawned traumatology. One of traumatologists' greatest challenges is to understand traumatology's progenitor and prevent its destructiveness in the future.

Aggression has been with us since earliest evolution. This entry will examine its presence in animals and early societies.

Ethology and anthropology have noted different forms of aggressiveness. Drawing on these disciplines and on his own observations in traumatic situations, Paul Valent explored three agonistic (aggressive) survival strategies that humans shared with animals. The way these survival strategies radiated through the evolving brain and evolving society could help us to ...