Synergism Hypothesis

Description

Daniel Christian Wahl:

"The biologist Peter Corning, former president of the International Society for Systems Science and director of the Institute for the Study of Complex Systems, suggests that in the evolution of our own species, cooperation has played a particularly important role.

Corning’s ‘synergism hypothesis’ argues “that it was the bioeconomic payoffs (the synergies) associated with various forms of social cooperation that produced — in combination — the ultimate directional trend over a period of several million years, from the earliest bipedal hominids to modern Homo sapiens. […] we invented ourselves (in effect) in response to various ecological pressures and opportunities” (Corning, 2005: 40). Corning explains: “one implication of this more complex view of evolution is that both competition and cooperation may coexist at different levels of organization, or in relation to different aspects of the survival enterprise. There may be a delicately balanced interplay between these supposedly polar relationships.” p.38). Evolving language and with it the ability to shape culture through narrative has allowed humans to develop complex patterns of collaboration.

Corning emphasizes: “If a society is viewed merely as an aggregate of individuals who have no common interests, and no stake in the social order, then why should they care? But if society is viewed […] as an interdependent ‘collective survival enterprise,’ then each of us has a vital, life-and-death stake in its viability and effective functioning, whether we recognize it or not” (p.392). Rather than getting lost in the disagreements and competitive episodes that are part of negotiating the integration of our human diversity, we are called to remember that “mutually beneficial cooperation is the fundamental organizing principle underlying all human societies” (p.393). Humanity’s future depends on mutually beneficial cooperation at a planetary scale.

The evolutionary biologist and futurist Elisabet Sahtouris describes how in the evolution of complex communities of diverse organisms a ‘maturation point’ is reached when the system realizes that “it is cheaper to feed your ‘enemies’ than to kill them” (personal comment). Having successfully populated six continents and diversified into the mosaic of value systems, worldviews, identities (national, cultural, ethnic, professional, political, etc.) and ways of living that make up humanity, we are now challenged to integrate this precious diversity into a globally and locally collaborative civilization acting wisely to create conditions conducive to life." (https://medium.com/activate-the-future/collaboration-and-empathy-as-evolutionary-success-stories-4e7cfd12e5c8)