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    o rganization to take care of these suckling clusters of mammal mamas

    and kids.

    All this demanded that a few additions be built onto the old

    reptilian brain.  Nature complied by constructing an envelope of new

    neural tissue.  That tissue surrounded the reptile brain like a peach's

    juicy fruit enveloping the pit.  MacLean called the add-on the

    mammalian brain.  The mammalian brain guided play, maternal

    behavior, and a host of other emotions.  It kept our furry ancestors

    knitted together in nurturing gangs.

    Far down the winding path of time, a few of our fuzzy pro-

    genitors tried something new.  They stood on their hind legs, looked

    around them, and applied their minds and hands to the exploitation of

    the world.  These were the early humans.  But proto-human aspirations

    were impractical without the construction of another set of add-ons to

    the brain.  Nature complied, wrapping a thin layer of fresh neural

    substance around the two old cortical standbys--the reptilian and

    mammalian brains.  The new structure, stretched around the old ones

    like a peach's skin, was the neo-cortex--the primate brain.

    The primate brain--including the human brain--had some

    awesome powers.  It could envision the future.  It could weigh a

    possible action and imagine the consequences.  It could support the

    development of language, reason and culture.9  But the neo-cortex had

    a drawback.  It was merely a thin veneer on the two ancient brains.

    And those oldsters were as active as ever, measuring every bit of input

    from the eyes and ears, and issuing fresh orders.

    The thinking human, no matter how exalted his sentiments, was

    still listening to the voices of a demanding reptile and a chattering

    ancient mammal.  Both were speaking to him from the depths of his

    own skull.

    Richard Leakey, the eminent paleoanthropologist, says war

    didn't exist until men invented agriculture and began to acquire

    possessions.  In the back of Leakey's mind, one hears a wistful prayer

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