For Whose Benefit?: The Biological And Cultural Evolution Of Human Cooperation Biological And Cultural Evolution Of Human Cooperation Samarbete. English

This book takes the reader on a journey, navigating the enigmatic aspects of cooperation; a journey that starts inside the body and continues via our thoughts to the human super-organism. Cooperation is one of lifeℓ́ℓs fundamental principles. We are all made of parts ℓ́ℓ genes, cells, organs, neurons, but also of ideas, or ℓ́ℓmemesℓ́ℓ. Our societies too are made of parts ℓ́ℓ us humans. Is all this cooperation fundamentally the same process? From the smallest component parts of our bodies and minds to our complicated societies, everywhere cooperation is the organizing principle. Often this cooperation has emerged because the constituting parts have benefited from the interactions, but not seldom the cooperating units appear to lose on the interaction. How then to explain cooperation? How can we understand our intricate societies where we regularly provide small and large favors for people we are unrelated to, know, or even never expect to meet again? Where does the idea come from that it is right to risk oneℓ́ℓs life for country, religion or freedom? The answers seem to reside in the two processes that have shaped humanity: biological and cultural evolution This book takes the reader on a journey, navigating the enigmatic aspects of cooperation; a journey that starts inside the body and continues via our thoughts to the human super-organism. Cooperation is one of lifeĺls fundamental principles. We are all made of parts ĺl genes, cells, organs, neurons, but also of ideas, or ĺlmemesĺl. Our societies too are made of parts ĺl us humans. Is all this cooperation fundamentally the same process? From the smallest component parts of our bodies and minds to our complicated societies, everywhere cooperation is the organizing principle. Often this cooperation has emerged because the constituting parts have benefited from the interactions, but not seldom the cooperating units appear to lose on the interaction. How then to explain cooperation? How can we understand our intricate societies where we regularly provide small and large favors for people we are unrelated to, know, or even never expect to meet again? Where does the idea come from that it is right to risk oneĺls life for country, religion or freedom? The answers seem to reside in the two processes that have shaped humanity: biological and cultural evolution Front Matter....Pages i-viii The Human Puzzle....Pages 1-9 Your Physical Self....Pages 11-26 Your Psychological Self....Pages 27-35 Easily Explicable Cooperation and Natural Selection....Pages 37-50 Family....Pages 51-68 Friends....Pages 69-87 Humanity—The Paragon of Cooperation?....Pages 89-109 Language ....Pages 111-127 The Last Piece of the Puzzle?—Cooperation Over Our Heads....Pages 129-159 Epilogue: The Human Super Organism....Pages 161-168 Back Matter....Pages 169-172