Final answer:
The essential ethical trait for successful hunting and mutual protection in human history is cooperation. This trait fostered egalitarian societies, enabled effective predator avoidance, and was vital for the survival of gatherer-hunters.
Step-by-step explanation:
The ethical trait necessary for humans to successfully hunt and protect each other is cooperation.
Throughout human history, cooperation has been crucial for survival, particularly during the times when humans lived as gatherer hunters.
The ability to work together allowed humans to compensate for their lack of natural defenses like an exoskeleton and their inability to outrun most predators.
By forming egalitarian groups, where resources such as food were shared and decisions were made collectively, hunter-gatherers ensured the well-being of the entire community.
The reciprocal relationship between their social structure and the environment they lived in was essential. Cooperation facilitated egalitarianism, allowing them to be mobile and adaptable.
Skills like group decision-making, sharing, and a flexible division of labor based on gender contributed to their success.
Moreover, the shared knowledge of environmental resources and dangers was pivotal for their sustenance and avoidance of predation.
Cooperation in human societies is a form of social behavior that has evolved over millions of years.
Predation and predator avoidance, strong influences shaped by natural selection, also play into the development of cooperative behaviors.
With these behaviors hardwired into humans, modern society continues to benefit from cooperation, which is reinforced by systems and technologies invented to meet basic human needs more efficiently.