04 - Chimps Hunting & Hominization

The victimary mechanism is foundational to human culture, but it already started with animals. For example, chimpanzees seem to hunt to create in-group cohesion. René Girard argued that the victimary mechanism was the motor of hominization, the process that produced humans from animals. By channeling violence outside the group, the mechanism created safe space inside the group where nurturing, cooperation, and intelligence could flourish. The intelligence in turn enhanced the ability to keep the inside and the outside separate and distinct. The positive feedback loop quickly generated a vast gulf between the new hyper-intelligent species and all other animal forms.