Introduction 02/12/20

Cooperation, Competition and Civilization
I have always heard that human beings are intelligent. That is what sets us apart from the other animals. Yet when I look around the planet I see so much irrational behavior on the part of these intelligent humans. What is going on? Why do humans simultaneously kill each other while protecting each other's lives? Why do we even have a term for war? Why do we have to pass laws to get people to use seat belts in cars? Why do we have to pay for air bags to help those who won't use seat belts? Why do people wait until things are unbearable before they are willing to change?

The answer to these questions and many more seem to lie in our DNA. Our DNA has the plans to build living beings. It also has the programs for instinctive behavior patterns. Birds build nests but they never see their parents build one. Even more basically, birds fly without any instruction. All living beings are programmed in their DNA to find food, avoid being food and reproduce. They are programmed to survive as individuals and as a species. So, where does this DNA come from? Your DNA is a combination of your parents' DNA. Theirs is a combination of their parents' DNA. Your DNA has been alive not for just hundreds of years, not for just thousands of years, not for just millions of years but for billions of years – all of the way back to the first single celled plant that figured out how to reproduce. Your DNA has residual plans and programs that helped plants, fish and lizards survive. Your DNA has plans and programs that helped our ancient ancestors survive when their primary defense was climbing a tree.

We don't have much to say about our genetic physical characteristics. We do have choices about our instinctive behaviors but our genetic programming is very strong. Most of the time we run on ancient instincts and unconscious habits and don't even notice. Our instincts were very important to the survival of our ancestors in a very different time, in a very different environment. For billions of years daily survival has been the obsession of biological organisms. Most animals live in very dangerous environments where death lurks around every corner. For most animals, repeating today whatever they did yesterday is their best choice of surviving another day. Trying something new is much more likely to get them killed. This has resulted in a very strong instinct in modern humans to avoid change until it becomes painfully necessary. Instinct trumps intelligence.

Our instincts are all focused on survival. In modern life survival is not a daily preoccupation. We are focused on thriving and that is a very different situation. Most of our ancient instincts are toxic to modern societies and we have to consciously manage them. We are aware of many of these ancient instincts. We potty train our children. We teach them to share and not to hit, bite or steal. Those are a good start. However, there are many other ancient instincts we have that don't get the attention they need to reduce conflict and violence in a peaceful age.

At the time I write this, the US and much of the industrial world is experiencing rising social conflict. Tolerance for differing opinions seems to be evaporating. People are afraid to talk to strangers and even old friends. The media is equally polarized. The cooperation between political parties that allows the government to function has been crippled if not canceled for decades. At least one study has shown that the US is more polarized than it has been since the civil war. What is going on? Why aren't we getting along? What can we do about it? Answers can be found in the our current social situations but the causes really go back, way back, in our ancestry. We need to learn more about the ancient roots of our current behaviors. We need to learn to recognize and manage our ancient instincts which threaten modern society before it is too late. We need to learn to act by choice rather than instinct. Let me take you back, way back.

Every living thing is alive today because of an unbroken chain of ancestors who survived long enough to reproduce. That chain goes back 4 billion years to the first primitive single celled organisms who figured out how to reproduce.

The physical characteristics and instinctive behaviors of every living organism is defined in their DNA. Their DNA has been selectively bred to survive for billions of years. Your DNA has been alive for billions of years!

Universal, instinctive behaviors appear consistently in human cultures, across the globe and across history. Where do these behaviors come from? The only thing all these humans have in common is their DNA.

Why is this of interest? For all our advanced technology, humans still behave instinctively. Those instincts served the survival of our ancient ancestors for millions and even billions of years. Most of those instinctive behaviors are toxic to today's complex societies. Behaviors that helped our ancestors to survive now tear into the fabric of modern societies. Wars fought with spears and clubs were beneficial for the survival of human tribes in ancient times but trading blows with nuclear weapons today threatens the survival of life on earth. Bigotry protected exclusive tribal societies for a million years but in a modern, inclusive society it is the source of civil war and genocide today. 

There is a bigger picture. By studying universal behaviors it is possible to speculate on their survival benefits for our ancestors. Using those benefits and behaviors it is then possible to trace them back to ideal stages of social evolution which provide powerful insights into modern societies.

Here are two examples of universal behavior: competition and cooperation. From these two universal behaviors, it is possible to derive a complete collection of idealized stages of social evolution. Let me show you the first stages.

Competition is based on taking. Cooperation is based on sharing. Competition in modern societies usually refers to efforts toward a goal limited by rules and laws. In its pure form, competition's goal is survival and there are no rules or limits. Plants compete with each other for survival taking light, water and nutrients from each other. Animals compete with each other, taking life from each other for sustenance. Humans take the lives of animals and plants so that we may live.

Human society is defined by individuals in sustained cooperation with each other. Before societies our ancient ancestors lived solitary lives at an INDIVIDUAL stage. Adults would have competed with each other for food, mates and territory. The only cooperation they would have experienced would be for procreation.

At some point a male stayed with the female he had impregnated and their genes were more likely to survive.  This alliance greatly increased the survivability of their genes as the first social group, the FAMILY stage was established. A family is two individuals committed to each other in sustained cooperation. Families would still compete violently with each other for food and territory.

Groups of cooperating families sharing exclusive traditions and beliefs are a TRIBE stage society. Tribes have more resources than isolated families and families cooperating in tribes have a better chance of survival. Tribes still compete violently with other tribes.

Groups of cooperating tribes sharing a commitment to a social contract are a NATION stage society. Nations have more resources than tribes and a better chance for individual survival. Nations compete economically with other nations.

Each of the first three early stages of social behavior is in our DNA. At times in our lives or life we exhibit these behaviors. Any individual competition is left over from our INDIVIDUAL stage. Any joint behavior of sustained couples is residual from our FAMILY stage. 

Any time we join exclusive associations, particularly bonded by common beliefs, we are experiencing TRIBAL society. These include residential communities, employment relationships, religions, politics, clubs and our support of regional sports teams.

Another important overview of these stages of society, of civilization, is the way our commitment drops back one or more stages if our current stage fails or seems to fail. When a marriage ends voluntarily, we drop back from FAMILY life to INDIVIDUAL life. When a family fails economically, it is not uncommon for the adult males to temporarily drop back into INDIVIDUAL life as they leave seeking employment. When a NATION starts to come apart, people drop back into warring TRIBES. When TRIBES start to fail, people renew their commitment to FAMILY life. Temporary regressions occur without damage in our daily life so long as our primary priority remains with our primary commitment.

Why should we take the time to study these issues? Because our ancient and often toxic instincts drive our lives and limit the peace and progress in our societies. As we become more aware of them, we have the opportunity of choosing our behavior instead of being unwittingly driven by instincts. 

In short, we need to understand the causes and sources of war, genocide and other forms of bigotry so we can make conscious choices. Our cleverness has far outstripped our wisdom.