Quora – competition – cooperation

What if humanity lived as if it were competing with an extraterrestrial civilization instead of competing with each other?

[ 27/April/23 ]

Wrong question!

Try – What if humanity lived as if it understood that competition is only survivable if it is built on a cooperative base?

The vastly over simplistic notion, championed by many in the scientific community, that evolution is all about competition, is simply wrong.

Sure, competition is always present, and it is always an important part of evolution, but to understand how new levels of complexity arise and survive, one needs to be able to see the fundamental role of cooperation in the survival of all levels of complexity. A failure to understand that will lead to a failure of that level of complexity. This applies to markets and politics and technology and all levels of complexity present.

Competition is a part of life, and it can be a lot of fun, but too much, in the wrong places, poses existential level risk to us as a species.

Unless that idea becomes generally understood and accepted (and it is a very complex idea, with recursive levels of needs for effective cheat detection and mitigation systems), then our time on this planet is limited. It is an idea that demands of each of us the highest levels of responsibility we are capable of.

And I am cautiously optimistic for a great future for all of humanity, and we do need to lift our game, substantially, from where it is right now.