People often have a grim view of what it means to be human. There’s this conception that inside each of us is a Mr. Hyde—an evilness that’s dying to get out—and also that we can’t trust strangers. This resonates with the view that at the beginning of human time we were able to survive pretty much alone or in small family groups. Supposedly we’ve been trying ever since then to overcome this dubious primal heritage by devising state-like organizations to control our nasty inner selves.
Yet it’s pretty clear that we cannot survive on our own. Our personalities and our knowledge are so tied up in our relationships with others. As a species we are remarkably talented, not just at thinking up new ways to kill other people, but also at turning strangers into friends.
I am not alone in thinking there’s another dimension to evolution, besides mutation and natural selection, that can kick in under the right circumstances—namely cooperation and collaboration. The payoffs for living socially are many, including avoidance of predators, finding resources, and caring for young. But in order to succeed you need effective ways of communicating between the individuals involved.
Evolving the capacity to read the behavior of others and to develop trusting relationships, as humans have, opens the door to the world beyond the confines of immediate kin and nearby neighbors.
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