PBI 141 Lecture : Cooperation
12 Dec 2013
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Document Summary
Two evolutionary steps led to the development of cooperation in humans: The interdependence hypothesis: m tomasello and a. vaish: step 1 environmental change. The ecology forced humans to become collaborative foragers. Those who didn"t cooperate or collaborate in foraging had less food, decreased survival and reproductive success. Each individual has a direct interest in the well-being of their partner. If your partner is in trouble, then you help them because you need this person for your own survival. Interdependence breeds helping behaviour altruism: not only does the individual you helped realize that you helped, but witnesses to your act of altruism understand that you are a cooperator . If you hunt successfully but don"t share, then you won"t be asked to hunt again: step 2 group interdependence. Those who cooperated survived and passed on their genes. Runaway selection for cooperation, and as the gene frequency increased the population.
