Let's take the evolution of cooperation. Evolutionary scientist Martin Nowak has identified five rules to explain why humans are the champions of cooperation: from hunter-gatherer societies to nation-states, cooperation is the decisive organizing principle of human society.
The first rule of the “evolution of cooperation” is, as Nowak calls it, “kin selection”. As in J. B. S. Haldane’s famous comment, “I will jump into the river to save two brothers or eight cousins.” The connection we feel towards individuals from the close genes.
The next rule Nowak calls “direct reciprocity,” or “tit for tat.” You don’t even need to be human to feel motivated to help others because they can help you. Scientists watching humans playing games noticed that we tend toward some interesting variations on “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”
The third is indirect reciprocity. Like when people tip waitresses they’ll never see again, or stop on a busy day to give passing stranger directions. We humans live our lives with the constant awareness that our behavior may be seen and evaluated by others, for better or for worse. Gossip and reputation may even have played a major role in how our brains developed.
Fourth is network reciprocity. Clusters of individuals bonding together and making an agreement to help one another without one individual expecting direct return from the next. Such groups, or “networks,” tend to be small enough that those who take and take without ever giving back can eventually be rooted out, leaving a situation in which people are accustomed to cooperating with one another and trusting each other.
Fifth is group selection. The idea that sometimes individuals may sacrifice their own personal success—even the chance to pass on their own genes—and yet still “win” if members of their group have success against members of other groups.
The first rule of the “evolution of cooperation” is, as Nowak calls it, “kin selection”. As in J. B. S. Haldane’s famous comment, “I will jump into the river to save two brothers or eight cousins.” The connection we feel towards individuals from the close genes.
The next rule Nowak calls “direct reciprocity,” or “tit for tat.” You don’t even need to be human to feel motivated to help others because they can help you. Scientists watching humans playing games noticed that we tend toward some interesting variations on “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”
The third is indirect reciprocity. Like when people tip waitresses they’ll never see again, or stop on a busy day to give passing stranger directions. We humans live our lives with the constant awareness that our behavior may be seen and evaluated by others, for better or for worse. Gossip and reputation may even have played a major role in how our brains developed.
Fourth is network reciprocity. Clusters of individuals bonding together and making an agreement to help one another without one individual expecting direct return from the next. Such groups, or “networks,” tend to be small enough that those who take and take without ever giving back can eventually be rooted out, leaving a situation in which people are accustomed to cooperating with one another and trusting each other.
Fifth is group selection. The idea that sometimes individuals may sacrifice their own personal success—even the chance to pass on their own genes—and yet still “win” if members of their group have success against members of other groups.
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
