Collaboration is Brilliant
Yet, more and more life is seen as a competition, with hospitals and schools ranked like football teams, and individuals encouraged to act as if “winning” means others loosing. I’m sick of this philosophical lopsidedness having negative effects on my daily live. I’m not against competition, I’m against it being the only model of human interaction. When it is, relationships end up loose-loose and workplaces become stressful and unproductive, as we focus on mutual backstabbing and watching, rather than scratching.
Led by the economic system we live in, there is a tendency to justify all this by viewing nature as brutally competitive ignoring the role of social collaboration, altruism and linked harmonious systems. Influenced by aikido I’ve developed a personal philosophy that balances competition and cooperation, giving both their due. This video by Howard Rheingold author of Smart Mobs (from the excellent TED talks), discusses the subject. I’m not sure about his economic history but his discussion of modern technology, open sourcing and the possibilities it enables are worth listen to. He mentions “the prisoner’s dilemma” and “the tragedy of the commons” which can be summed up as “we all loose when we can’t trust each other.” However there’s hope…”rational self interest is not always the dominant factor.” To me his talk lacks the spiritual and developmental perspectives that are necessary for understanding these issues but that’s just integral whining. Enjoy the clip, especially the orange suit.
Robert Wright’s dry humorous take on non-zero-sum games is a good partner watch and reminds me of Spiral Dynamics with it’s emphasis on moral and social progress. He states we’re all in a non-zero sum game with each other – i.e. that not only is it not necessary for you to loose for me to win, but our best interests are tied up so let’s go for the win-win. This leads to the seemingly odd position that altruism is based in selfishness and true selfishness leads to altruism, so rational self interest may be our saving grace.
I also like his simple conclusion after discussing terrorism, war and global politics, “we’ve come to far to screw it up now.” So whatya say we stop fighting over crumbs and bake some new cakes?