The Origins of Virtue : Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation

Trust : Virtue or Calculation

Some books are so engrossing and enriching that sharing them becomes obligatory because irrespective of the language they are written the message they convey is equally useful to all. so much so that they call for group reading sessions and wider discussion in clubs and colleges. Their applicability is not limited to schools or colleges but they are equally hit for boardrooms, war rooms, court rooms alike. 

Matt Ridley is a celebrated author who has previously authored top selling titles like Genome and the Red Queen. To categorise The Origins of Virtue : Human Instincts and the evolution of Cooperation, published by The Penguin in 1996 will be a tough task as it fits into several genre at the same time. Its a research document, a compilation of stories, history book, a economics paper.

The book is categorised into 13 chapters dealing into different themes where cooperation has evolved as a modus towards mutual gains and development of society from Genetic evolution to division of labour and manouveres through Power of Private property, War, trade, ecology as religion and public goods. 

In "The society of Genes", the author discusses the collective collaboration of bees, ants to create and flourish their colony by individual sacrifices. Similarly by explaining the concept of "selfish embryo" he asserts that there is constant battle between embryo and mothers body over stable sugar levels where mothers body tries to stabilise sugar level while embryo wants to extract more sugar for itself. Therefore all the pregnancies are tug of war between mothers body and embryo. So the concept of altrusim in the case of bee and ants and mothers is only a half truth. 

The Prisoners Dilemma chapter is a good eye openor to extract cooperation. By citing the examples of Bats, African vervet monkeys and fishes at coral reefs, the author draws that tit-for-tat is the mechanism for generating cooperation between unrelated individuals as they are acutly aware of social debts. Taking this argument forward in "Telling hawks from Doves", he adds that if you are nice to people, there is a good chance your consideration will be returned.

In "Duty and the Feast", the discussion on why food is shared and sex is private is a revealation. He adds that the most fundamentally selfless and communitarian thing we do is to share food; it is very basic of society. sex we do not share; we are possessive, jealous and secretive, prone to murdering our sexual rivals and guarding our partners if given the chance. But food is something to share. It is very intersting chapter with insight on sexual division of labour, its origins, the eating habits of male and females with examples from different species. one interesting term to know was risk-reduction hypothesis for food sharing.  

"Thoeries of Moral sentiments" discusses the moral aspects of trust, altruism, selflessness, commitment. It adds that "a world without obligations to reciprocate, deal fairly, and trust other people would be simply inconcievable." "Ecology as a religion" brings to the fore the argument of environmental activism. It adds that for humans "environmentalism is something we prefer to preach than to practice it. Everybody, it seems, wants a new road for themselves, but less road building. Everybody wants another car, but wishes there were fewer on the road...". 

In the last and final chapter Trust, the author concludes that the "gene-tilitarian" understanding of the humans help in understanding that humans have both self-centred and anti-social behaviour as well as altruistic intincts. He adds that the source of social order  lay in the teachings of Christ as per Saint Augustine, for Hobbes it was in soverign, for Rousseau it was in solitude, for Lenin it was in the party. But they all were wrong  as roots of social order are in our heads and for that social and material exchange between the equals should be encouraged as it is the raw material of  trust and trust is the foundation of virtue.

The discussions on role of Grass in our civilisation (intersting read), ceremony of Potlatch, gift as a weapon, Prisoner's dilemma make this book a worth reading.

This is must read for those interested in understanding cooperation in human history, for researchers, for those who want to read multi-disciplinary approach on decision-making and offcourse civil service aspirants as it covers ethics paper in multiple touch points.