The evolution of cooperation: society and mutualisms
Competition is only one part of the story of evolution.
Organisms must compete, but ‘every man for himself’ is rarely the most effective strategy. Many organisms cooperate- either with
other members of their species, or with other species.
I. Kin selection. Altruistic behaviors such as cooperation, food sharing, and sacrifice can evolve when individuals are closely
related: from a genetic standpoint, helping one other is selfish
II. Mutualisms. Organisms interact such that both parties benefit.
I. Symmetric mutualism. Each party contributes the same thing, and gets the same benefits.
II. Asymmetric mutualisms. Each party contributes something the other needs.
Both kinds of mutualisms can actually lead to integration of the parties to create fundamentally new kinds of organisms. The increase in
complexity seen in the history of life is primarily achieved by integration of organisms through kin selection and mutualism to create
superorganisms.
Nature is always competitive, and frequently violent. Evolution is like a war. In this view, a peaceful meadow full of
flowers is a struggle to the death:
• Individual flowers fight with each other for sun, water, and nutrients.
• Using nerve agents (opioids) they engage in chemical warfare against herbivores threatening to consume them.
• Natural selection favors poppies that grow faster and taller to outcompete their neighbors. As herbivores develop tolerance to poison, the poppies
become more toxic.
No one ever said evolution was pretty…
Competition can be violently competitive.
Chimpanzees, for example, engage in warfare- males will gang up to attack and kill males from rival groups. (this tendency towards group violence isn’t
analogous to warfare: it is probably homologous to warfare)
Evolution can be cruel…
Evolution is often ruthlessly exploitative.
Ichneumon wasps use their elongate ovipositor to lay eggs inside of grubs and caterpillars- which are literally devoured alive from the inside out.
, To ignore this aspect of nature is naïve.
But to view nature solely in these terms would paint an incomplete picture.
Animals also work together…
If you really want to compete, you have to cooperate
Cooperation:
An ant is weak. But together, ants are strong. Even, or perhaps especially, at its most violent and competitive, we see the importance of cooperation in
evolution.
How can cooperation exist?
Natural selection would seem to favor selfishness in all situations.
Imagine a mutation that caused its owner to selflessly help others: share food, protect them from predators, groom them of parasites.
If other individuals have genes favoring selfish behavior, the selfish individuals will reap the rewards while the altruist pays all the costs.
The gene for selfishness spreads, and the altruists go extinct. Nice guys, quite literally, finish last.
Altruistic populations might have higher fitness than populations of selfish jerks (group selection).
But strong selection for selfish individuals means that altruistic mutations cannot spread throughout selfish populations, and selfish mutations will rapidly
overrun altruist-dominated populations.
This is not an easy question…
It sounds great to have a society where all the resources are distributed fairly, everyone shares and works together for the common good.
The problem is that some people will be jerks- they will give less and take more. That’s just human nature.
People have spent thousands of years trying to create societies that are more cooperative but cheating (laziness, theft, corruption, abuse of power)
always find their way in.
If too many people do this, the system is unstable and breaks down.
Yet cooperation clearly does exist – are we missing something? Or can we help ourselves by helping others… and if
so, how?
1. KIN SELECTION: the importance of family
Competition is only one part of the story of evolution.
Organisms must compete, but ‘every man for himself’ is rarely the most effective strategy. Many organisms cooperate- either with
other members of their species, or with other species.
I. Kin selection. Altruistic behaviors such as cooperation, food sharing, and sacrifice can evolve when individuals are closely
related: from a genetic standpoint, helping one other is selfish
II. Mutualisms. Organisms interact such that both parties benefit.
I. Symmetric mutualism. Each party contributes the same thing, and gets the same benefits.
II. Asymmetric mutualisms. Each party contributes something the other needs.
Both kinds of mutualisms can actually lead to integration of the parties to create fundamentally new kinds of organisms. The increase in
complexity seen in the history of life is primarily achieved by integration of organisms through kin selection and mutualism to create
superorganisms.
Nature is always competitive, and frequently violent. Evolution is like a war. In this view, a peaceful meadow full of
flowers is a struggle to the death:
• Individual flowers fight with each other for sun, water, and nutrients.
• Using nerve agents (opioids) they engage in chemical warfare against herbivores threatening to consume them.
• Natural selection favors poppies that grow faster and taller to outcompete their neighbors. As herbivores develop tolerance to poison, the poppies
become more toxic.
No one ever said evolution was pretty…
Competition can be violently competitive.
Chimpanzees, for example, engage in warfare- males will gang up to attack and kill males from rival groups. (this tendency towards group violence isn’t
analogous to warfare: it is probably homologous to warfare)
Evolution can be cruel…
Evolution is often ruthlessly exploitative.
Ichneumon wasps use their elongate ovipositor to lay eggs inside of grubs and caterpillars- which are literally devoured alive from the inside out.
, To ignore this aspect of nature is naïve.
But to view nature solely in these terms would paint an incomplete picture.
Animals also work together…
If you really want to compete, you have to cooperate
Cooperation:
An ant is weak. But together, ants are strong. Even, or perhaps especially, at its most violent and competitive, we see the importance of cooperation in
evolution.
How can cooperation exist?
Natural selection would seem to favor selfishness in all situations.
Imagine a mutation that caused its owner to selflessly help others: share food, protect them from predators, groom them of parasites.
If other individuals have genes favoring selfish behavior, the selfish individuals will reap the rewards while the altruist pays all the costs.
The gene for selfishness spreads, and the altruists go extinct. Nice guys, quite literally, finish last.
Altruistic populations might have higher fitness than populations of selfish jerks (group selection).
But strong selection for selfish individuals means that altruistic mutations cannot spread throughout selfish populations, and selfish mutations will rapidly
overrun altruist-dominated populations.
This is not an easy question…
It sounds great to have a society where all the resources are distributed fairly, everyone shares and works together for the common good.
The problem is that some people will be jerks- they will give less and take more. That’s just human nature.
People have spent thousands of years trying to create societies that are more cooperative but cheating (laziness, theft, corruption, abuse of power)
always find their way in.
If too many people do this, the system is unstable and breaks down.
Yet cooperation clearly does exist – are we missing something? Or can we help ourselves by helping others… and if
so, how?
1. KIN SELECTION: the importance of family
