The Penguin and the Leviathan

1. Humans are inherently cooperative, not solely self-interested

In practically no human society examined under controlled conditions have the majority of people consistently behaved selfishly.

Evolutionary advantage of cooperation. Humans have evolved to be inherently cooperative, not just selfish. This cooperative tendency has provided an evolutionary advantage, allowing groups with cooperative practices to survive and thrive. Studies across various cultures and experimental settings consistently show that around 50% of people behave cooperatively, while only about 30% act purely out of self-interest.

Biological basis for cooperation. Research in neuroscience and evolutionary biology provides evidence for the biological foundations of cooperation. For example:

• Brain scans show that cooperative behavior activates reward centers
• The hormone oxytocin increases trust and cooperative behavior
• Genes that predispose individuals to cooperative traits can spread through populations

2. Empathy and group identity drive cooperation

Empathy is an extensively studied phenomenon. Some of the earliest work, done in the 1980s, focused on the most basic phenomenon—babies who begin to cry when they hear other babies cry.

Empathy as a driver. Empathy, our ability to understand and share the feelings of others, is a powerful motivator for cooperative behavior. It allows us to:

• Experience others' emotions as our own
• Care about strangers and even fictional characters
• Act altruistically, even at a cost to ourselves

Group identity and solidarity. Our tendency to identify with groups and feel solidarity with their members is another crucial factor in cooperation. This manifests in:

• Willingness to sacrifice for one's group (e.g., military service)
• Cooperation within groups, even in competitive settings
• The power of shared symbols and identities (e.g., national flags)

3. Communication is crucial for fostering collaboration

When they did so, they readily made promises and commitments to one another, set norms to govern their behavior, and engaged one another as human beings. But their talk wasn't "cheap" or meaningless—they overwhelmingly followed through on their commitments, even when there was no way to enforce these commitments in the experiment.

Power of communication. Contrary to economic theories that dismiss talk as "cheap," communication plays a vital role in fostering cooperation. Experiments show that allowing face-to-face communication can increase cooperation levels by up to 45%.

Real-world examples. The importance of communication in cooperative systems is evident in various settings:

• Wikipedia's discussion pages and community portals
• Toyota's team-based production system with continuous communication
• Community policing initiatives that improve police-community relations
• Online platforms like Meetup.com that facilitate real-world cooperation

4. Fairness matters more than pure self-interest

We care about fairness. Even young kids usually have fairly honed senses of justice ("I should get as much as she's getting," etc.).

Multifaceted nature of fairness. Fairness is a complex concept that encompasses:

• Fairness of outcomes
• Fairness of intentions
• Fairness of processes

People often care more about perceived fairness than maximizing their own gains. This is demonstrated in various experiments, such as:

• Ultimatum games, where people reject unfair offers even at a cost to themselves
• Public goods games, where participants punish free-riders

Cultural variations. Notions of fairness can vary across cultures, but the importance of fairness is universal. Understanding these cultural differences is crucial for designing effective cooperative systems in diverse settings.

5. Social norms and moral values shape cooperative behavior

We care about fairness. We care for our children and our parents. We care about our siblings and our friends and our colleagues. Most of us even care, to some degree, for those we have never met—even for people who aren't real, such as the characters in a movie.

Power of social norms. Social norms, the unwritten rules that govern behavior in groups and societies, play a crucial role in shaping cooperative behavior. They can:

• Encourage prosocial actions without the need for formal regulations
• Vary across cultures and contexts
• Be more effective than laws in certain situations (e.g., Ellickson's study of cattle ranchers)

Moral motivations. Our innate moral sense and capacity for principled action can drive cooperation even when it's not in our immediate self-interest. This is evidenced by:

• People returning lost wallets or helping strangers
• Whistleblowers exposing wrongdoing at personal cost
• The universal existence of moral codes across cultures

6. Rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation to cooperate

When we are offered payment for a benevolent activity, it signals to others that we are not as selfless as we wish to be perceived—which in many cases is at least part of our motivation to act selflessly in the first place.

The crowding-out effect. Offering material rewards for cooperative behavior can sometimes backfire by:

• Framing the interaction as transactional rather than social
• Undermining people's sense of autonomy
• Signaling that the activity is not inherently worthwhile

Real-world examples:

• Blood donation rates decreased when payment was introduced
• Fines for late pickup at a daycare increased tardiness
• Offering money for nuclear waste storage reduced community acceptance

Balancing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Successful systems need to harness both social and selfish motivations without letting the latter crowd out the former. This can be achieved by:

• Offering non-monetary rewards (e.g., recognition)
• Preserving autonomy in paid roles
• Framing interactions as cooperative rather than transactional

7. Successful businesses harness cooperation, not just competition

The point is that order prevailed; it was simply that instead of it being the rule of law, it was the standards of the community that the cattlemen followed. And even though none of these norms was legally binding, they were rarely, if ever, broken.

Cooperative business models. Many successful companies have found ways to harness cooperation rather than relying solely on competition and hierarchical control. Examples include:

• Toyota's collaborative team-based production system
• Southwest Airlines' emphasis on employee autonomy and teamwork
• Google's campus-like environment that encourages creativity and collaboration

Benefits of cooperative approaches:

• Increased employee engagement and job satisfaction
• Higher productivity and innovation
• Better supplier relationships and quality control
• More stable and sustainable business models

8. The Internet enables unprecedented large-scale collaboration

Thanks to the Internet, today's companies and nonprofit organizations can harness the collective insights, ideas, and contributions not just of the people within the organization, but also of the millions of people outside it.

Power of online collaboration. The Internet has enabled new forms of large-scale cooperation, such as:

• Wikipedia, the world's largest encyclopedia created by volunteers
• Open-source software projects like Linux and Apache
• Crowdsourcing platforms for problem-solving and innovation
• Social networking sites that facilitate real-world cooperation

Key features of successful online collaborative platforms:

• Modularity: Breaking tasks into small, manageable pieces
• Low barriers to entry: Making it easy for people to contribute
• Transparent communication channels
• Systems for building trust and reputation

9. Cooperative systems can outperform command-and-control models

Across the board we are beginning to see increased understanding that money and material rewards are not everything, and that, indeed, their relationship to motivation and effective action is much more ambiguous and complicated than two generations of economic theory has previous claimed.

Limitations of traditional models. Command-and-control systems and purely market-based approaches often fall short in:

• Motivating complex, creative work
• Adapting to rapidly changing environments
• Fostering innovation and problem-solving
• Building long-term trust and engagement

Advantages of cooperative systems:

• Harness intrinsic motivation and diverse talents
• Promote continuous learning and improvement
• Build resilient, adaptable organizations and communities
• Often more cost-effective and efficient in the long run

Real-world success stories:

• Community policing initiatives reducing crime
• Self-governing commons for natural resource management
• Open-source software outcompeting proprietary alternatives
• Crowdfunding and fan-supported music distribution models

Last updated: September 24, 2024