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Evolution, Biology and the Cooperative Instinct

Evolution, Biology and the Cooperative Instinct. Rod White Richard I vey School of Business Barbara Decker Pierce Kings University. Cooperative Instinct. Organized groups beat solitaires in the competition for resources and larger organized groups beat smaller ones of the same species.

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Evolution, Biology and the Cooperative Instinct

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  1. Evolution, Biology and the Cooperative Instinct Rod White Richard Ivey School of Business Barbara Decker Pierce Kings University

  2. Cooperative Instinct Organized groups beat solitaires in the competition for resources and larger organized groups beat smaller ones of the same species. E.O. Wilson

  3. Cooperative Instinct and Human Evolution 500 generationsas farmers and herders 10 generationsas managers and modern workers Size of cooperative groupings 100,000 generationsas hunters and foragers -250k -10k 0 years before present

  4. Can Cooperation Evolve? Selfish Group Cooperative Group C S C C C C S S C C C S C S C C S C S C C

  5. Can Cooperation Evolve?(Genetic competition among cooperators) Selfish Group Members Cooperative Group Members Simple organisms act in their genetic self-interest. What if the organism has the cognitive capacity to modify its social behaviors based upon information about other group members? C S S C C S C S S S C C S S S S S C C S C S

  6. Within Group Cooperation • Help your own kin (inclusivefitness). • Help those who helped, or might help you; refuse to help non-cooperators.(direct reciprocity) • Observe interactions of other group members and help those who help others (indirect reciprocity). • Gossip with other members about each others’ reputations. Help members with good reputations. • Punish non-cooperators based upon reputation or observation. (altruistic punishment) Self-interested Cooperation cognitive ability / group size Group-interested Cooperation

  7. Bridging the Altruism Divide • Simple norms of reciprocity emerge. • Help other cooperators; avoid non-cooperators. • Norms are applied consistently within groups (social imitation). • Norms vary between groups. • Low cost forms of altruistic punishment arise. • Through a co-evolutionary process punishments escalate. • Avoidance  Shunning  Ostracism  Homicide

  8. Cooperative Instinct Hypothesis Innate predisposition to sacrifice some individual self-interest for the benefit of the group. How do we organize and manage to take advantage of the cooperative instinct?

  9. Cooperative InstinctImplications for Organizations • Teams influence membership. • Select other cooperators and exclude non-cooperators. • Avoid legitimizing self-interested behaviors and recognize community oriented behaviors. • Gossip is good. • Allows identification of cooperators and non-cooperators. • Allow teams to sanction self-interested behaviors. • Manage group identity and potential for between group competition.

  10. Multilevel Selection(Individual Fitness versus Group Fitness) Selfish Group Cooperative Group S S C S C S C S S S S S C S C

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