“Self-Interest” drives “Collaboration” but only if we are aware of it!
Our self-interests drive us to collaborate and compete with each other. Does that sound a bit strange? “We are in competition” is trivial as we always are, but how does self-interest help us collaborate? In the jungle, the plants compete for sunlight and some grow taller than others. The animals compete for food, and the weaker ones die. We all know that the secret of our success is in our ability to sustain fierce competition from our peers. The spirit of competition forces species to grow stronger and develop new capabilities and tools — helping them to stay alive (or those with new capabilities have better chances of survival — Darwin’s theory). Our ancestors also went through the same process. It increased their mental capabilities — enabling them to invent technologies and tools — greatly increasing life expectancy — leading to a population explosion.
But, the species competing with each other are seen collaborating too. There are innumerable such examples. No species (including man) can live in isolation. They are collaborating with each other for food, some for shelter and protection. However, this act of collaboration is not an act of altruism, but driven mainly by self-interest, each trying to maximize its survivability and quality of life — as if “opportunism” is synonymous with “life” itself. Plants feed on carbon dioxide and release oxygen as a byproduct not out of love for animals. Animals have learned to use oxygen as an agent to purify the blood. In turn, they release carbon dioxide — completing the cycle. One can find many such cycles active among species in a symbiotic relationship — each subconsciously helping the other — purely driven by species’ own self-interest and not out of any concerns for others.
Thus, it is apparent that species collaborate only if it enhances survivability and quality of life. Most species will not collaborate unless its existence is at risk. Therefore we normally do not collaborate and are in constant competition with each other. Over time if the competition is allowed unchecked, it impacts survivability, just like it did to most our species in past, like Neanderthal man and others perished. The modern society acknowledged the risks and therefore framed rules and regulations forcing collaboration. These we call “laws”, which keep evolving — aligning with the interest of the group in power.
But the laws framed by most political groups are unfair to races, countries, clans who either have lost in battles or are economically weak and therefore incapable of applying their free will. Slavery, economic and political imperialism are to name a few. The situation becomes worst for the animals and plants who are incapable of practicing free will. This has led to over-exploitation of forest leading to the extinction of many animals and plant species. Scientists say that we are closed to the next mass extinction — a direct outcome of us competing with everyone around us including ourselves. Why are we doing that? As we do not see any immediate threat to our own existence, therefore other’s interests are much lower in priority. We see ourselves detached from the overall system as if we do not need the system and therefore have no contributions to make.
But why do we need to worry now? As with advancement in technology our competitiveness has increased significantly thereby shrinking the playing ground making ourselves very visible. We can no longer remain detached and isolated from the overall system and keep competing with it with utmost insensitivity. Even the cells (which make up our bodies) have learned over time to collaborate with other individual cells to improve our survivability. We owe our very existence to this “act of collaboration”. So why should we not emulate this strategy when our very existence is at stake?
A case in point is the recent pollution levels in Delhi. I have not seen the situation so bad anytime in past. Mumbai had experienced flooding recently when lives were lost. These situations are a direct outcome of our rampant competition with each other to maximize economic gains. Now since the threat is real, are we intelligent enough to recognize it? If we do, only then we will collaborate to mitigate it, otherwise, the future is full of misery.
