Cooperation vs. Competition

Presenter: Rev. Matt Alspaugh

Service Associate: Carol Johnson

A few weeks ago, I mentioned Charles Darwin’s concept of the survival of the fittest leading to the evolution of species, which has been expanded to a kind of social Darwinism, the idea that society is best organized around competition and reward, leading to the survival of the most successful people. It seems that competition rules in everything from capitalism to romance. But does competition trump cooperation? We’ll explore more recent work which suggests that cooperation has its place. How might we balance cooperation and competition? How might we create a more cooperative world, and what might that look like?

Topics: ,