17. Culture: Patterned to Cooperate and Compete

Culture: Patterned to Cooperate and Compete
Bob Komives
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Energy begat matter.
Matter begat life.
Life begat knowledge.
Knowledge begat culture.
Then culture begat.

Begat

Life is a nearly inevitable pattern that emerges from changing interactions among inanimate forms of energy. Adaptive evolution is a nearly inevitable pattern that emerges from life interacting with itself and a changing inanimate environment under an imperfect system of reproduction. Culture is a nearly inevitable layer of patterns that emerges from adaptive evolution interacting with itself. Complex patterns of life emerge and get tested by adversity and diversity. The more durable patterns survive and retain knowledge as to how groups of species and groups of individuals can organize to exploit the inanimate and animate forms of energy in the environment. This group knowledge is still stored inside individual chromosomal genes, but it may be used in patterns across the genes of several individuals and even multiple species. It may be used in patterns alive in places that range from virus to atmosphere.

Richard Dawkins calls the patterned and mutually beneficial relationship among individuals of one or more species, the "Extended Phenotype" I think of it as the larger body. Congress is a lawmaking body. The actions of its members are hard enough to explain when we know the role of Congress. Certainly, we would have no idea what single acts of individual congressmen mean if we did not see the larger body.

Dawkins argues that the selfish genes that drive evolution do not just affect the creatures in which they reside. Behavior will tend to maximize survival of genes that foster the behavior, whether the genes are in the animal behaving or in some other creature that affects its behavior. Whenever cooperation or competition increases the survivability of genes (in separate species, separate individuals in the same species, or separate organs within the individual) such behavior is reinforced.

Evolution creates not only diverse species that fit diverse habitats, but also creates diverse extended phenotypes, relationships and cultures that fit diverse circumstances. Humankind competes with the cold virus, yet Dawkins asks whether it is we or the virus who has manipulated the evolution of our sneeze in response to a cold. The sneeze provides us some relief, but clearly the virus is given a free ride toward other victims. We and the cold virus have a special relationship.

Thus, the distinction between cooperation and competition becomes fuzzy. While individuals act out serious competition to improve their well-being, they may play compatible roles in a cooperative effort, a cultural effort, to survive. Economics should be one of the sciences that try to understand culture --to understand how we use patterns of cooperation and competition to improve well-being for individuals and increase likelihood of survival for our species.

:: Bob Komives, Fort Collins © 2006 :: Plum Local IV :: 17. Culture: Patterned to Cooperate and Compete ::
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