Genes, Egoism and the Power of Cooperation: Evolution as a Team Game

In a harsh world where competition for resources prevails, it is difficult to think of ourselves as team players. It may seem that individualism is the driving force of progress and evolution. However, as the author of the book, evolutionary biologist Jonathan Silvertown, asserts, it is cooperation that has allowed life to develop, and this is confirmed by 4 billion years of evolution on the planet. Using unexpected examples such as the behavior of rats and crows, the structure of earthworms and lichens, the boiling of cellular broth, and even interactions among pirates and charitable organizations, the author demonstrates that just as genes and cells, every creature strives for cooperation—in its own interests, of course. And there is no contradiction here: it is the unification with someone else for the sake of benefit and danger prevention that gave rise to life and facilitated the process of evolution. There is a deep meaning in humans' propensity for mutual aid. Within all of us is embedded a certain biological law that drives us to cooperate. Meanwhile, meaningless violence, to which our species is sometimes so prone, is the harshest test for human survival as a species.