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Other concepts

Psychology and neurology

Psychology is the study of how the human mind works. The human brain is the main controller of what a person does. Everything from moving and breathing to thinking is done by the brain. The human neocortex is huge compared with other mammals, and gives us our thinking ability, and the ability to speak and understand language. Neurology is the study of how the brain works, psychology is the study of how and why people think and feel. Many aspects of life are also influenced by the hormone system, including growth and sexual development. The hormonal system (especially the pituitary gland) is partly controlled by the brain.

Human behaviour is hard to understand, so sometimes psychologists study animals because they may be simpler and easier to understand. Psychology overlaps with many other sciences including medicine, biology, computer science and linguistics.

War

A war is a lethal fight between large groups of people, usually countries or states. A war involves the use of lethal weapons as both sides try to kill the other. It is estimated that during the 20th century, between 167 and 188 million humans died because of war.[51] The people who fight for a state in wars are called soldiers. The people who fight in wars, but not for a state, are usually called “fighters”.

Modern wars are very different from wars a thousand or even a hundred years ago. Modern war involves sabotage, terrorism, propaganda, and guerrilla warfare. In modern-day wars, civilians (people who are not soldiers) are often targets. An example of this is the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945,[52] about half on the days of the bombings. Since then, thousands more have died from wounds or illness because of exposure to radiation released by the bombs.[53] In both cities, the overwhelming majority of the dead were civilians. In Germany, Austria, and Great Britain, conventional bombs were used. About 60,595 British,[54] and 550,000 German,[55] civilians were killed by planes bombing cities.

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