Identical circumstances trigger and collapse arms races in animals and humans.

Evidence

We humans are animals, too, and no book on extreme weapons would be complete without an examination of our own arsenals. We’ll see that the parallels between animal weapons and manufactured weapons run deep. In both cases, the vast majority of weapons are relatively unimpressive and small. But, here and there, circumstances arise that shatter the norm, sparking bursts of rapid escalation in weapon size called “arms races.” Very specific factors must fall into place before weapon evolution launches into one of these races, and it turns out that the same special circumstances triggering arms races in animals also prompt humans to manufacture bigger and bigger weapons. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 17

Categorization

• SEED: The animal-human arms race parallel is the book’s central thesis and a strong essay angle about what conditions drive escalation.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 17
• XREF: connects to: Comparisons of animal and human weapons have a long scholarly tradition.; Human and animal arms races follow parallel evolutionary dynamics — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 463; Human fortifications and artillery evolve via the same arms-race logic as animal weapons — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 525 (+3 more)

Related

• Human and animal arms races follow parallel evolutionary dynamics (similarity 0.93)
• Comparisons of animal and human weapons have a long scholarly tradition. (similarity 0.92)
• The evolutionary drivers of animal weapons also explain human weapon elaboration. (similarity 0.90)
• Weapons innovations trigger arms races in ships just as in animals (similarity 0.90)
• Specific ecological circumstances must align before weapon arms races begin (similarity 0.89)
• Three conditions must align to trigger an animal weapons arms race. (similarity 0.89)
• Human fortifications and artillery evolve via the same arms-race logic as animal weapons (similarity 0.88)
• Specific conditions are required before weapons escalate into an arms race (similarity 0.88)
• Weapon evolution is judged by competition among designs, not human survival (similarity 0.87)
• Balancing selection normally curbs weapon size until some lineages escape into runaway arms races (similarity 0.86)
• Markets and battlefields select among rifle designs like natural selection acts on weapons (similarity 0.86)
• Animal and human fights both hinge on whether duels or gang-ups occur (similarity 0.86)
• Fortification-artillery escalation mirrors predator-prey arms races, not rival contests (similarity 0.86)
• Identical triggers drive extreme weapon evolution across wildly unrelated clades (similarity 0.86)
• Animal weapons can evolve rapidly within just seven generations (similarity 0.85)

Broader Connections

• Human and animal arms races follow parallel evolutionary dynamics #corroborates (0.70) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 463
• The evolutionary drivers of animal weapons also explain human weapon elaboration. #corroborates (0.65) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 7
• Specific ecological circumstances must align before weapon arms races begin #qualifies (0.65) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 137
• Human fortifications and artillery evolve via the same arms-race logic as animal weapons #exemplifies (0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 525
• Weapons innovations trigger arms races in ships just as in animals #expands (0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 962