Biology of the Army

The Crazy Ape (1970) is a critical and pessimistic commentary on science and the prospects for human survival by Nobel prize winner Albert Szent-Györgyi. In the book he writes: “One of the main biological characteristics that armies share with cancer cells is that they continue to grow, even when growth is not necessary. An army with its rigid organization and complex structure undergoes a similar development to that of a human being who strives for ever more wealth and power. There are two other reasons that make growth inevitable. The first is that every army always creates a counter-army and it must always stay ahead of it. In this way both armies strive to stay ahead of each other and this results in an endless spiral of growth. The other reason why an army always grows is that it has to be kept busy, so it seeks out incidents and involves the country in wars and reckless ventures. It is this kind of activity that will lead to the debacle of the United Nations, which is mankind’s only hope.”