How to Shift from Competitive Individualism to Cooperation for a Greater Good

How to Shift from Competitive Individualism to Cooperation for a Greater Good

Cooperation—not competition—underpins innovation. To spur creativity, and to encourage people to come up with original ideas, you need to use the lure of the carrot, not fear of the stick. Cooperation is the architect of creativity throughout evolution, from cells to multicellular creatures to anthills to villages to cities. Without cooperation there can be neither construction nor complexity in evolution. –Martin Nowak with Roger Highfield, SuperCooperators: Altruism, Evolution, and Why We Need Each Other to Succeed. In recent papers, Dr. Martin Nowak has argued that cooperation is one of the three basic principles of evolution. The other two are mutation and selection. On their own, mutation and selection can transform a species, giving rise to new traits like limbs and eyes. But cooperation is essential for life to evolve to a new level of organization. Single-celled protozoa had to cooperate to give rise to the first multicellular animals. Humans had to cooperate for complex societies to emerge. “We see this principle everywhere in evolution where interesting things are happening,” Dr. Nowak said. While cooperation may be central to evolution, however, it poses questions that are not easy to answer. How can competing individuals start to cooperate for the greater good? And how do they continue to cooperate in the face of exploitation? To answer these questions, Dr. Nowak plays games.   The B/C>K Equation = When the Benefit-to-Cost (B/C) Ratio of Cooperation Is Greater than the Average Number of People in the Network (K), then Cooperation Emerges As Dr. Nowak developed his neighborhood game model, he realized it would help him study human cooperation. “The reality is that I’m...