# The Urge to Kill Crosses Cultures by David M. Buss > “From baby killing to genocide, from Susan Smith to Osama bin Laden, people in every culture experience the urge to kill. Some act on it.” > **— David M. Buss**, *Edge, “Why do people kill other people?”, 2002* ## Sources and Context - **Original response:** [Buss, “Why do people kill other people?”, Edge Annual Question (2002)](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10933). Buss asks why some people act on an urge despite social and legal prohibitions. This is a research question about violence, not a claim that everyone commits it. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] - **Article:** [[articles/Walking the Beautiful Path Through the Greatest Transformation in Human History|Walking the Beautiful Path Through the Greatest Transformation in Human History]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Human Animality|Human Animality]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/David M. Buss|David M. Buss]] - [[wiki/Human Animality|Human Animality]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “From baby killing to genocide, from Susan Smith to Osama bin Laden, people in every culture experience the urge to kill. Some act on it.” — David M. Buss, Edge, 2002 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-david-buss-urge-kill-cultures ```