THE

UNSELFISH GENE

Presented By: GROUP 2

Deepayan Pattnaik
Kshitish Sahoo
Saswati Sahoo
Shubhrajyoti Mohapatra
Suman Mishra
THE SELFISH NATURE OF HUMANS
3 fundamental principles- 1. Mutation, 2. Natural Selection and 3. NATURAL
COOPERATION
Thomas Hobbess Leviathan : Humans are Fundamentally and Universally
Selfish
Adam Smiths Invisible Hand : The self interested and rational and weighted
decision making tend to serve the common good
Though their prescriptions are different, the Leviathan and Invisible Hand have
the same starting point Humankinds Selfishness
Idea began to change Humans were seen as naturally cooperative
Elinor Ostrom showed how humans can sustain themselves for centuries as
well functioning systems
The Success of the commons people of Spain and United States
 THE CHANGING NATURE
The fall of organisations Britannica Encyclopaedia and Encarta
The Rise of Organisations :
Wikipedia
Yelp
TripAdvisor
Open Source Software APACHE

Google, Facebook ,Craiglist found ways to become profitable by

engaging people
Recent studies show 30% people are selfish
50% people systematically and predictably behave cooperatively
Remaining 20% are unpredictable
Human behaviour can help design better and efficient systems
THE SCIENCE OF COOPERATION
Pre-disposed to cooperation
Experiments and Game theory
Both players are better off if they cooperate
Game Theory players will choose not to cooperate with each
other
Community Game vs Wall Street
Community Game 70% people cooperated with each other
Wall Street 70% people didnt cooperate with one another
Two takeaways :
All people are different
Many of us are influenced by context
The Success of the Commons
Spain farmers managed access to water through self
regulated irrigation projects
United States reduction in crime by humanizing the
interaction between Place and local communities
WHAT ACCOUNTS FOR HUMAN
COOPERATION?
Theory of kin selection
Human beings will incur costs only to save others who carry their genes

Observation in wild (Opposing Theory)

The cooperation between coyote and honey badger to catch squirrel even though
only one or the other would eat the prey

The coevolution of genes and cultures

Twin experiment- To prove identical twins having relatively same gene than non
identical ones behave in a similar way for most of the time
Social system makes someone with specific genes more desirable to mate than
others and soon the system produces more of those specific genes.

Neuroscience
Cognitively and emotionally, we may be able to feel what others are feeling
Cooperation triggers the reward centre in our brains.
More prominent brain activity while playing with a human being than playing a
computer game
THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF COOPERATIVE
SYSTEMS

COMMUNICATION
When people communicate, they feel empathetic and more
trusting
Reach solutions faster

FRAME AND AUTHENTICITY

It is important that frame fits reality

EMPATHY AND SOLIDARITY

More empathy and solidarity more likely to account for
others interests
Solidarity with a group likely to sacrifice our interest for the
collective
Role of Team Spirit
THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF COOPERATIVE SYSTEMS
FAIRNESS AND MORALITY
Fairness versus equality fair does not mean equal
Flexibility in accepting norms of fairness :
Mining camps during California gold rush
Fairness by cooperation equal distribution norm
Morality importance of doing the right thing

REWARDS AND PUNISHMENT

set up systems that appeal to participants intrinsic
motivations instead of systems for monitoring people
according to their behaviour
Crowding out phenomenon and 2 facts that make this tough to
implement
Policy relying on monetary rewards will have side effects
Motivate people socially and intellectually by making
cooperation social, autonomous and rewarding
THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF
COOPERATIVE SYSTEMS
REPUTATION AND RECIPROCITY
Cooperation hinges on long term reciprocity, both direct and
indirect
Systems relying on reciprocity are enormously valuable but
easily corrupted
Reputation is the most powerful tool against this

DIVERSITY
Systems that harness diverse motivations are more
productive than material payoff systems
Cooperative systems need to be flexible
DEBUNKING THE MYTH OF SELFISHNESS
Four reasons the belief of selfishness still exists are :

. PARTIAL TRUTH
Moments when we have chosen to serve our own
interests over the interests of others
We consider a partial truth as a whole

. IT IS HISTORY
Roots of assumption about universal selfishness are as
old as human culture
DEBUNKING THE MYTH OF SELFISHNESS
IT IS SIMPLE
Human beings seek simple explanations for a complex
world
Psychological concept of Cognitive fluency the
tendency to hold on to things that are simple to
understand and remember

IT IS A HABIT
Human beings have been educated and socialized to
think in terms of universal selfishness
Self-centered whats in it for me?
Tend to interpret all the evidence we encounter to fit
our preconceptions and assumptions
IN TODAYS WORLD
Adaptability, creativity and innovativeness preconditions for
organisations and individuals to survive

People arent focussed on payoffs they learn, adapt, improve

and deliver results for the organisation

People are internally motivated bring in insight, creativity and

innovation

Cooperative systems include conscience and authentic

humanity, along with creativity, flexibility and diversity
The world is a family
One is a relative, the other stranger,
say the small minded.
The entire world is a family,
live the magnanimous.

Be detached,
be magnanimous,
lift up your mind, enjoy
the fruit of Brahmanic freedom.
Maha Upanishad6.7175

Thank You