~ C-TO-SI ~ Cooperation – Triumphs Over – Self-Interest

~ WNNB-RSTTGL-AGBTIHOTM-O-POTCHOF-TSTCW-IHOT-TSOL-ICTA-TP ~ We Need Not Be – Robotic Slaves To The Government’s Leviathan – Automations Guided By The Invisible Hand Of The Market – Or – Parts Of The Collectivist Hive Of Fascism – To Serve The Common Weal – In Honor Of Tux – The Symbol Of Linux – I’ll Call This Alternative – The Penguin

~ INTCCSDBTL-N-TIHOTFMCEGS-WSWT? ~ If Neither The Command-Control Systems Dictated By The Leviathan – Nor – The Invisible Hand Of The Free Market Can Effectively Govern Society – Where Shall We Turn?

~ EWBNTUQOTSS-A-WBTTOHBITO-AM-P-R-T-PAE ~ Economics Was By Now The Unquestioned Queen Of The Social Sciences – And – We Began To Think Of Human Behavior In Terms Of – Almost Mechanical – Predictable – Responses – To – Punishments And Incentives

~ PAIFMC-TMEAOPA-TIJT-DOFSHICS-OMSAETEIBO ~ People Are In Fact More Cooperative – Than Most Economists And Others Previously Assumed – This Isn’t Just Theory – Dozens Of Field Studies Have Identified Cooperative Systems – Often More Stable And Effective Than Equivalent Incentive-Based Ones

~ UCOCASTMUIE ~ Using Control Of Carrots And Sticks To Motivate Us Isn’t Effective

~ ORTTMOUSPITIINWW-OMS ~ One Reason That The Myth Of Universal Selfishness Persists Is That It Is Not Wholly Wrong – Only Mostly So

~ Y-SBAS-B-FASAOTT-ASOUDNAOOSI ~ Yes – Some People Are Selfish – But – Few Are Selfish All Of The Time – And Some Of Us Do Not Act Out Of Self-Interest

~ HBTTSO-N-S-E-THUMSOOCACW ~ Human Beings Tend To Seek Out – Neat – Simple – Explanations – To Help Us Make Sense Of Our Confusing And Complex World

~ ATGHNBEASTTITOUS-OWGITHOTOOAOBIAGW-WTTIATEWEACSIFWOPAA-BDSB-AEO ~ Almost Two Generations Have Now Been Educated And Socialized To Think In Terms Of Universal Selfishness – Once We Get In The Habit Of Thinking Of Ourselves And Our Behavior In A Given Way – We Tend To Interpret All The Evidence We Encounter And Collect So It Fits With Our Preconceptions And Assumptions – By Discarding Some Bits – And Emphasizing Others

~ WASB-WPSAB-WAEBJAM-INM-TWARB ~ We Are Social Beings – We Perform Selfless Acts Because – We Are Emotional Beings Just As Much – If Not More – Than We Are Rational Beings

~ ONADAFMCAVTTSDTMPAG-UR-TFHBLIOOP ~ Our Needs And Desires Are Far More Complex And Varied Than The Simple Desire To Maximize Pleasure And Gain – Until Recently – These Findings Have Been Largely Ignored Outside Of Psychology

~ F-OCFWI-RAF-ODTBSFBOPASBTASG-AFBTGTRD ~ Finally – Our Concern For What Is – Right And Fair – Our Desire To Be Seen Favorably By Our Peers And So Belong To A Social Group – Are Finally Beginning To Get Their Rightful Due

~ TPOCINSSUD-IIGISOTBWAMRRIBS ~ The Promise Of Cooperation Is Not Some Silly Utopian Dream – It Is Grounded In Some Of The Best Work And Most Rigorous Research In Behavioural Science

~ SORAP-S-TIASRFSITGABBSATEOTWC ~ Systems Of Reciprocity Aren’t Perfect – So – There Is Always Some Room For Some Individuals To Get Ahead By Being Selfish At The Expense Of Those Who Cooperate

~ AWMADTA-WHTFITSWI-EEHGAT-TFE-PWMDDDOHASIP ~ Anytime We Make A Decision To Act – We Have To First Interpret The Situation We’re In – Even Economists Have Grudgingly Admitted This – The Framing Effect – People Will Make Different Decision Depending On How A Situation Is Presented

~ SC-R-A-SC ~ Social Capital – Reputation – And – Social Contagion

~ SRHTOC ~ Social Relations Have Their Own Currency

~ MESTOBIASIGIBTBWOIPAU-EIWCUOTI ~ Much Evidence Suggests That Our Behavior In Any Situation Is Greatly Influenced By The Behavior We’ve Observed In People Around Us – Even If We’re Completely Unaware Of That Influence

~ WSTBWTNO-FPAADAPASI ~ We Seem To Be Wired To Need Others – Few Punishments Are As Debilitating And Painful As Social Isolation

~ WASBNLTWAI-STLUBBWBTSTSUAJOOTO ~ We Are Social Beings No Less Than We Are Individuals – Systems That Let Us Be – Work Better Than Systems That See Us As Just One Or The Other

~ E-NM-WWOOPDS-TNIOBFIATESPAWWADTSAO-OBMNOPOMM-BPEAW ~ Empathy – Neuron Mirroring – When We Observe Other People Doing Something – The Neurons In Our Brains Fire In Almost The Exact Same Patterns As When We Are Doing Those Same Acts Ourselves – Our Brains Mirror Not Only Pain Or Motor Movements – But Pure Emotions As Well

~ WVQAS-SPIG-‘LU’&‘NLU’~ We Very Quickly And Subconsciously Sort People Into Groups – “Like Us” And “Not Like Us”

~ IMC-TSATCACWO-IE-TGPTATFACG-WTGMB ~ In Many Cases – The Simple Ability To Communicate And Coordinate With Others – Is Enough – To – Get People To Act Together For A Common Goal – Whatever That Goal Might Be

~ TIETSTWCEMATPTTAOOAS ~ There Is Evidence To Suggest That We Care Even More About The Process Than The Actual Outcome Of A Situation

~ ODFF-AIIUIACC-IACCOHMAB-IIIO-S-I-E-O-S-WHABNODTBTF-A-TBPISTTUF ~ Our Desire For Fairness – As It Is Understood In A Cultural Context – Is A Critical Component Of Human Motivation And Behavior – It Is Independent Of – Self-Interest – Empathy – Or – Solidarity – We Have A Basic Need Or Desire To Be Treated Fairly – And – To Be Participants In Systems That Treat Us Fairly

~ IWWTBASTMPTWW-OCE-INETOTSRAI-WANTTAHFTSI ~ If We Want To Build A System That Motivates People To Work Well – Or Cooperate Effectively – It’s Not Enough To Offer Them Simple Rewards And Incentives – We Also Need To Think About How Fair The System Is

~ FI-A-P-I-P-O-MSWW-A-FMPFWACWT ~ Fairness Is – A – Practical – Integral – Part – Of – Making Systems Work Well – And – Of Making People Function Well And Cooperatively Within Them

~ PAAQGA-SU-E-A-SR-FA-TASOMAUAECN ~ People Are Actually Quite Good At – Setting Up – Enforcing – And – Self-Regulating – Fair Arrangements – Through A Set Of Mutually Agreed Upon And Enforced Community Norms

~ NPOV ~ Neutral Point Of View

~ TIEETST-WICTC-PMP-TBBAECS-WITBLOCTS ~ There Is Enough Evidence To Suspect That – When It Comes To Cooperation – Practice Makes Perfect – That By Building And Engaging Cooperative Systems – We Increase The Baseline Level Of Cooperation Throughout Society

~ TSOFAOSSBENE ~ The Success Of Free And Open-Source Software Baffles Economist No End

~ COE-OW-TOOMR-E-CWAPEAAI-O-IWAPSOAAC ~ Crowding-Out Effects – Occur When – The Offer Of Material Rewards – Either – Clash With A Person’s Expectation About An Interaction – Or – Interferes With A Person’s Sense Of Autonomy And Control

~ AM-AROAP-CARTTPOOM-A-SUOTPOC ~ Adding Money – As Reward Or As Punishment – Can Actually Redirect The Total Pull Of Our Motivations – And – Steer Us Off The Path Of Cooperation

~ NIMIIACSTCATP-WPAATC-TA-ME-MT-A-CRSMRTWTCTTOA ~ Nothing Is More Important In A Cooperative System Than Communication Among The Participants – When People Are Able To Communicate – They Are – More Empathetic – More Trusting – And – Can Reach Solutions More Readily Than When They Cannot Talk To One Another

~ VANAA-FINSYATATPDAHTIEOIOPHBM-FIITEHC-FSAPS ~ Values Are Not An Afterthought – Fairness Is Not Something You Attend To After The Practical Decisions About How To Improve Efficiency Or Innovation Or Productivity Have Been Made – Fairness Is Integral To Effective Human Cooperation – Fair Systems Are Productive Systems

~ CHU-LTR-BDAI ~ Cooperation Hinges Upon – Long-Term Reciprocity – Both Direct And Indirect

~ STHODMANJMPBAMCWHE ~ Systems That Harness Our Diverse Motivations Are Not Just More Productive But Also More Consistent With Human Experience