Overconfidence and war

In this book, I do three things: First: I argue that overconfidence in times of conflict was a adaptive trait in our evolutionary past, and as a result, has become an inseparable part of human psychology. Second: I argue that whether or not it has an evolutionary origin, overconfidence is a widespread phenomenon that we cannot ignore in our attempt to understand conflict. Third: I argue that overconfidence contributes to causing war. Each of these three claims stands on its own, but my task is to show that they are interconnected, as I argue that natural selection in human evolution favored the strategic advantage of a confident spirit, and therefore it is common in our psychology today; and thus it promotes the outbreak of war. (But I do not argue that overconfidence is the only cause of war breaking out).