Co-operation
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Cooperation (written as co-operation in
British English British English is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom, especially Great Britain. More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to ...
and, with a varied usage along time, coöperation) takes place when a group of
organisms An organism is any living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have been pr ...
works or acts together for a collective benefit to the group as opposed to working in
competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...
for
selfish Selfishness is being concerned excessively or exclusively for oneself or one's own advantage, pleasure, or welfare, regardless of others. Selfishness is the opposite of ''altruism'' or selflessness, and has also been contrasted (as by C. S. Lewis ...
individual benefit. In
biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
, many
animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...
and
plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
cooperate both with other members of their own species and with members of other species with whom they have (
symbiotic Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biolo ...
or mutualistic) relationships.


Among humans

Humans cooperate for the same reasons as other animals: immediate benefit, genetic relatedness, and reciprocity, but also for particularly human reasons, such as
honesty Honesty or truthfulness is a facet of moral character that connotes positive and virtue, virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, straightforwardness (including straightforwardness of conduct: Good faith, earnestness), along with the ...
signaling (indirect reciprocity), cultural group selection, and for reasons having to do with
cultural evolution Cultural evolution is an evolutionary theory of social change. It follows from the definition of culture as "information capable of affecting individuals' behavior that they acquire from other members of their species through teaching, imitation ...
. Language allows humans to cooperate on a very large scale. Certain studies have suggested that fairness affects human cooperation; individuals are willing to punish at their own cost (''altruistic punishment'') if they believe that they are being treated unfairly. Sanfey, et al. conducted an experiment where 19 individuals were scanned using
MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes inside the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and rad ...
while playing an
ultimatum game The ultimatum game is a popular experimental economics game in which two players interact to decide how to divide a sum of money, first described by Nobel laureate John Harsanyi in 1961. The first player, the proposer, proposes a division of the ...
in the role of the responder. They received offers from other human partners and from a computer partner. Responders refused unfair offers from human partners at a significantly higher rate than those from a computer partner. The experiment also suggested that altruistic punishment is associated with negative emotions that are generated in unfair situations by the anterior insula of the brain. It has been observed that image scoring, where a participant learns of their counterpart's prior behavior or reputation, promotes
cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...
behavior in situations where direct reciprocity is unlikely. This implies that in situations where reputation and status are involved, humans tend to cooperate more. Many organisms other than apes, such as fish, birds, and insects exhibit cooperative behavior:
teaching Teaching is the practice implemented by a ''teacher'' aimed at transmitting skills (knowledge, know-how, and interpersonal skills) to a learner, a student, or any other audience in the of an educational institution. Teaching is closely related ...
,
helping Helping behavior refers to voluntary actions intended to help others, with reward regarded or disregarded. It is a type of prosocial behavior (voluntary action intended to help or benefit another individual or group of individuals, such as sharing ...
, and
self-sacrifice Self-sacrifice is the giving up of something that a person wants for themselves, so that others can be helped or protected, or so that other external values can be advanced or protected. Generally, an act of self-sacrifice conforms to the rule tha ...
, and can
coordinate In geometry, a coordinate system is a system that uses one or more numbers, or coordinates, to uniquely determine and standardize the position of the points or other geometric elements on a manifold such as Euclidean space. The coordinates are ...
to solve problems. The author Nichola Raihani argues that Earth is a history of
teamwork Teamwork is the collaborative effort of a group to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in an effective and efficient way. Teamwork is seen within the framework of a team, which is a group of interdependent individuals who work toge ...
,
collective action Collective action refers to action taken together Advocacy group, by a group of people whose goal is to enhance their condition and achieve a common objective. It is a term that has formulations and theories in many areas of the social sciences ...
, and cooperation. Its a selfish behavior, working together towards solving a problem, because it yields success to engage cooperatively, typically this means work in effort towards solving a problem can often only ever be solved by a cooperative effort, for example for most individuals working cooperatively but especially within families has made cooperation behaviors be generally aggregated together to accomplish major problem solving for survival, like migration and success, particularly familial success. Democracy for instance was created because of three key traits; social comparison, engagement with collaboration, and wanting to be someone who
shares In financial markets, a share (sometimes referred to as stock or equity) is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation. It can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Sha ...
, which all stems from the desire to not monopolize all resources but to gradually accept the divvying up of resources of collaboration (
cliques A clique ( AusE, CanE, or ; ), in the social sciences, is a small group of individuals who interact with one another and share similar interests rather than include others. Interacting with cliques is part of normative social development regardle ...
,
team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to in ...
s or greater
communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place (geography), place, set of Norm (social), norms, culture, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Ide ...
). When clients are watching and see the current interaction reacting badly, then sometimes everyone else who is waiting will stop watching or go elsewhere, thus they may provide a better service when a client can be made aware of their ability to exhibit cooperative behavior. This has been observed in generosity 'tournaments' or
one-upmanship Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, individ ...
behavior among people, and among cleaner fish, and its an example of costly behavior that engages in that is about a future underlying benefit that one can gain by gaining those clients, for human beings its particularly the case that unconditional generosity is a particular response which suggests perception of a sexual role advantage as underlining such behavioral choices amongst men when undergoing competitively this way in the presence of attractive females or online. Every human achievements are actually reliant on the cooperation efforts that have been created by others, from the cursory to the truly magnificent, whether its a mundane achievement or the greatest achievements, it relies on cooperation. We're biologically geared to ensuring survival by social instincts like much of the food early human beings ate were hunted or gathered, these are aspects of cooperation that alone cannot be done. To avoid the problem of starvation we had to band together like our distant ancestors if we wish to continue existing. However primates largely lived on large salad bowls so they avoided such pressure, narrowing what they need as a evolutionary strategy. We had to not only cooperate to eat, we also readily need to learn other important life skills to be able continue this strategy and had to raise our children that couldn't survive without essential food.
Kin selection Kin selection is a process whereby natural selection favours a trait due to its positive effects on the reproductive success of an organism's relatives, even when at a cost to the organism's own survival and reproduction. Kin selection can lead ...
or related
inclusive fitness Inclusive fitness is a conceptual framework in evolutionary biology first defined by W. D. Hamilton in 1964. It is primarily used to aid the understanding of how social traits are expected to evolve in structured populations. It involves partit ...
theory is defined as a reproductive strategy that favors the success of an organism's relatives, even when it is not in an organism's own best interest, it's highly relevant to human social behavior, relationships and cooperation. In the individual psychology of
Alfred Adler Alfred Adler ( ; ; 7 February 1870 – 28 May 1937) was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of belonging, relationships within the family, a ...
, a definition of social instinct is; an innate drive for cooperation is what invariably leads individuals to inculcate social interest and the
common good In philosophy, Common good (economics), economics, and political science, the common good (also commonwealth, common weal, general welfare, or public benefit) is either what is shared and beneficial for all or most members of a given community, o ...
to help them achieve
self-realization Self-realization is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology, and spirituality; and in Indian religions. In the Western understanding, it is the "fulfillment by oneself of the possibilities of one's character or personality" (see also ...
.


Among other animals

Cooperation is common in non-human animals. Besides cooperation with an immediate benefit for both actors, this behavior appears to occur mostly between relatives. Spending time and resources assisting a related individual may reduce an organism's chances of survival, but because relatives share genes, may increase the likelihood that the helper's genetic traits will be passed on to future generations.Hamilton, W.D. (1964). "The Genetical Evolution of Social Behaviour". ''Journal of Theoretical Biology'', 7, 1–16. The
cooperative pulling paradigm The cooperative pulling paradigm is an Scientific control, experimental design in which two or more animals pull incentive salience, rewards toward themselves via an apparatus that they cannot successfully operate alone. Researchers (ethology, e ...
is an experimental design used to assess if and under which conditions animals cooperate. It involves two or more animals pulling rewards towards themselves via an apparatus they can not successfully operate alone.de Waal, Frans (2016). "Are We Smart Enough To Know How Smart Animals Are?" , p. 276 Some researchers assert that cooperation is more complex than this. They maintain that helpers may receive more direct, and less indirect, gains from assisting others than is commonly reported. Furthermore, they insist that cooperation may not solely be an interaction between two individuals but may be part of the broader goal of unifying populations.Clutton-Brock, T. (2002). "Breeding together: Kin selection and mutualism in cooperative vertebrates". ''Science'', 296(5565), 69–72.


Kin selection

One specific form of cooperation in animals is
kin selection Kin selection is a process whereby natural selection favours a trait due to its positive effects on the reproductive success of an organism's relatives, even when at a cost to the organism's own survival and reproduction. Kin selection can lead ...
, which can be defined as animals helping to rear a relative's offspring in order to enhance their own fitness. Different theories explaining kin selection have been proposed, including the "pay-to-stay" and "territory inheritance" hypotheses. The "pay-to-stay" theory suggests that individuals help others rear offspring in order to return the favor of the breeders allowing them to live on their land. The "territory inheritance" theory contends that individuals help in order to have improved access to breeding areas once the breeders depart. These two hypotheses both appear to be valid, at least in cichlid fish. Studies conducted on red wolves support previous researchers' contention that helpers obtain both immediate and long-term gains from cooperative breeding. Researchers evaluated the consequences of red wolves' decisions to stay with their packs for extended periods of time after birth. It was found that this "delayed dispersal," while it involved helping other wolves rear their offspring, extended male wolves' life spans. These findings suggest that kin selection may not only benefit an individual in the long-term in terms of increased fitness but in the short-term as well through enhanced chance of survival. Some research even suggests that certain species provide more help to the individuals with which they are more closely related. This phenomenon is known as kin discrimination.Griffin, A. S., & West, S. A. (2003). "Kin Discrimination and the Benefit of Helping in Cooperatively Breeding Vertebrates". ''Science'', 302(5645), 634–36. In their meta-analysis, researchers compiled data on kin selection as mediated by genetic relatedness in 18 species, including the Western bluebird, Pied kingfisher, Australian magpie, and Dwarf Mongoose. They found that different species exhibited varying degrees of kin discrimination, with the largest frequencies occurring among those who have the most to gain from cooperative interactions.


Cooperative systems

Cooperation is a process by which the components of a
system A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...
work together to achieve the global properties. In other words, individual components that appear to be "selfish" and independent work together to create a highly complex, greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts system. The phenomenon is generally known as 'emergence' and is considered an outcome of self-organization. Examples: * The components in a cell work together to keep it living. * Neurons create thought and consciousness, other cells work together and communicate to produce multicellular organisms. * Organisms form food chains and ecosystems. * People form families, tribes, cities and nations. * Atoms cooperate in a simple way, by combining to make up molecules. Understanding the mechanisms that create cooperating agents in a system is one of the most important and least well understood phenomena in nature, though there has not been a lack of effort. Individual action on behalf of a larger system may be coerced (forced), voluntary (freely chosen), or even unintentional, and consequently individuals and groups might act in concert even though they have almost nothing in common as regards interests or goals. Examples of that can be found in market trade, military wars, families, workplaces, schools and prisons, and more generally any institution or organization of which individuals are part (out of own choice, by law, or forced). A cooperative system has been defined in
organization studies Organization studies (also called organization science or organizational studies) is the academic field interested in a ''collective activity, and how it relates to organization, organizing, and management''. It is "the examination of how individ ...
as a complex of physical, biological, personal and social components which are in a specific systematic relationship by reason of the cooperation of two or more persons for at least one definite end.


The prisoner's dilemma

The prisoner's dilemma is a model that demonstrates how, in certain conditions, members of a group will not cooperate even though cooperation would mutually benefit them all. It makes clear that collective self-interest is insufficient to achieving cooperative behavior, at least when an uncooperative individual who "cheats" can exploit cooperating group members. The prisoner's dilemma formalizing this problem using
game theory Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions. It has applications in many fields of social science, and is used extensively in economics, logic, systems science and computer science. Initially, game theory addressed ...
and has been the subject of much theoretical and experimental research. The first extensive experimental studies were conducted in the early 1960s by
Anatol Rapoport Anatol Borisovich Rapoport (; ; May 22, 1911January 20, 2007) was an American mathematical psychologist. He contributed to general systems theory, to mathematical biology and to the mathematical modeling of social interaction and stochastic ...
and Albert Chammah. Results from experimental economics show that humans often act more cooperatively than strict self-interest, modeled as the
Nash Equilibrium In game theory, the Nash equilibrium is the most commonly used solution concept for non-cooperative games. A Nash equilibrium is a situation where no player could gain by changing their own strategy (holding all other players' strategies fixed) ...
, would seem to dictate. While economic experiments require subjects to make relatively abstract decisions for small stakes, evidence from natural experiments for high stakes support the claim that humans act more cooperatively than strict self-interest would dictate. One reason may be that if the prisoner's dilemma situation is repeated (the iterated prisoner's dilemma), it allows non-cooperation to be punished more, and cooperation to be rewarded more, than the single-shot version of the problem would suggest. It has been suggested that this is one reason for the evolution of complex
emotion Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...
s in higher life forms. Playing the iterated version of the game leads to a cascade of
brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...
signals that relate the speed with which players reciprocate cooperation at subsequent rounds. In evolutionary biology, five mechanisms for the evolution of cooperation have been suggested: (i) kin selection, (ii) direct reciprocity, (iii) indirect reciprocity, (iv) spatial structure, and (v) group selection.


See also

*
Agreeableness Agreeableness is the trait theory, personality trait of being kind, Sympathy, sympathetic, cooperative, warm, honest, straightforward, and considerate. In personality psychology, agreeableness is one of the Big Five personality traits, five major ...
*
Collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. The ...
* Cooperativeness (personality trait) * Cooperative gameplay * Dictator game *
Dunbar's number Dunbar's number is a suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships—relationships in which an individual knows who each person is and how each person relates to every other person. This ...
*
Game theory Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions. It has applications in many fields of social science, and is used extensively in economics, logic, systems science and computer science. Initially, game theory addressed ...
*
Management cybernetics Management cybernetics is concerned with the application of cybernetics to management and organizations. "Management cybernetics" was first introduced by Stafford Beer in the late 1950s and introduces the various mechanisms of agency (philosophy) ...
*
Polytely __NOTOC__ Polytely (from Greek roots ''poly-'' and ''-tel-'' meaning "many goals") comprises complex problem-solving situations characterized by the presence of multiple simultaneous goals.Funke 2001, p.72. These goals may be contradictory or oth ...
*
Teamwork Teamwork is the collaborative effort of a group to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in an effective and efficient way. Teamwork is seen within the framework of a team, which is a group of interdependent individuals who work toge ...


Books

* '' The Evolution of Cooperation'' * '' Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution''


Notes


References

*
Herbert Gintis Herbert Gintis (February 11, 1940 – January 5, 2023) was an American economist, behavioral scientist, and educator known for his theoretical contributions to sociobiology, especially altruism, cooperation, epistemic game theory, gene-culture co ...
, Samuel Bowles
''A Cooperative Species: Human Reciprocity and Its Evolution''
Princeton University Press, 2011, (Reviewed in
The Montreal Review
') * Tom R. Tyler
"Why People Cooperate: The Role of Social Motivations"
Princeton University Press, 2011, *
Michael Tomasello Michael Tomasello (born January 18, 1950) is an American developmental and comparative psychologist, as well as a linguist. He is professor of psychology at Duke University. Earning many prizes and awards from the end of the 1990s onward, he is ...
, (2009)
''Why We Cooperate''
MIT Press. (Reviewed i
The Montreal Review
*
Raimo Tuomela Raimo Heikki Tuomela (9 October 1940 – 22 November 2020) was a Finnish philosopher. Career Tuomela received his first degree of doctor of philosophy in 1968 from the University of Helsinki and the second one in 1969 from Stanford University. T ...

"Cooperation, a philosophic study"
Philosophical Studies Series, Vol. 82 Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000, * Robert Axelrod, '' The Complexity of Cooperation'', Princeton Paperbacks, * Robert Axelrod, '' The Evolution of Cooperation'', Basic Books, *
Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator and author. He is an Oxford fellow, emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was Simonyi Professor for the Publ ...
(1990), ''
The Selfish Gene ''The Selfish Gene'' is a 1976 book on evolution by ethologist Richard Dawkins that promotes the gene-centred view of evolution, as opposed to views focused on the organism and the group. The book builds upon the thesis of George C. Willia ...
'', second edition – includes two chapters about the evolution of cooperation, *
Herbert Gintis Herbert Gintis (February 11, 1940 – January 5, 2023) was an American economist, behavioral scientist, and educator known for his theoretical contributions to sociobiology, especially altruism, cooperation, epistemic game theory, gene-culture co ...
, Samuel Bowles, Robert T. Boyd, Ernst Fehr (eds.), ''Moral Sentiments and Material Interests: The Foundations of Cooperation in Economic Life'' (Economic Learning and Social Evolution). MIT 2005 * John McMurtry, "How Competition Goes Wrong." ''Journal of Applied Philosophy'', 8(2): 200–10, 1991. * Dennis Rivers
NewConversations.net
''The Seven Challenges: A Workbook and Reader About Communicating More Cooperatively'', fourth edition, 2005 – treats cooperation as a set of skills that can be improved. * M.J. van den Assem, D. van Dolder and R.H. Thaler (2010)
"Split or Steal? Cooperative Behavior When the Stakes are Large"


External links

*

''A book about cooperation and the benefits of this path, as opposed to working alone.''
Rheingold.com
''The Cooperation Project: Objectives, Accomplishments, and Proposals''. Howard Rheingold's project with Institute for the Future.
Etra.cc
, Cooperation platform for transport research (scientific)

''The Far Games'', a list of games using theatrical improvisation to encourage collaboration and distributed leadership {{Authority control Collaboration Ethology Management theory Moral psychology Social graces